The Folly of the Toa
by Scorpion-Strike
Summary: Spherus Magna, 9,000 years after the Reformation. Time has not been kind to the Toa Nuva; some have died, some are fading away... and one has vanished, until now. A young Toa meets a legend, accompanies him on a journey and meets his former allies, whose actions helped to create a paradise; one that they have no reason to exist in.
1. Chapter 1

I was passing through Ko-Koro-Nuva when I first saw him: a figure approaching from a path into the high mountains in the middle of the night. Though he had the stature of a Toa, he walked with a severe limp, using a large stick as a cane to steady himself. Still, his movements were precise, calculated, practiced. He wore a long cloak, with its hood drawn over his head to conceal his face. The few Ko-Matoran about didn't seem to pay much attention to him; there were some odd looks, but his cloak totally concealed his identity, and none of the Matoran seemed interested in interfering with his journey. Just another traveler passing through, as far as they were concerned, but I sensed something more, so I quietly followed him.

He made his way to the train station, where he purchased a ticket and boarded the only waiting train. I asked the Matoran behind the ticket counter where he was going.

"New Atero, ma'm."

So I purchased a ticket for New Atero, and just made it onto the train in time before it set off. Soon, it was rumbling down the track, on schedule to arrive in Onu-Koro-Nuva, the one stop along the way to New Atero, by sunrise.

The car I'd taken a seat in contained but a few passengers, but the hooded Toa had disappeared. Curious as to where he went, I started making my way back through the train. The further back I got, the emptier the cars were. The second-to-last one didn't have a single passenger in it. The last had but one; the mysterious Toa, sleeping on the very back bench. Using my Volitak to keep from making any noise to wake him up, I made my way through the cart and sat down on the bench opposite him.

"I know you are following me." He said quietly, much to my surprise.

"You do?" No reply. I was amazed; even the power of the Kanohi Volitak wasn't enough to conceal one from him. Had he only been pretending to be asleep?

"What do you want?" he inquired.

"I'd like to know who you are." I answered. "Specifically… are you the Toa of that statue in Ko-Koro-Nuva?"

"What would make you think that?" For a moment, I sensed surprise, but after that his mind was closed off, blank again.

"Kopaka, Toa Nuva of Ice. They say he disappeared into the mountains one day and never returned. You came down from those mountains, so I figured you might be him."

"No." Again, it was fleeting, but I could tell that wasn't the truth.

"Then who are you?"

"None of your concern." I could sense a degree of frustration in him. "Leave me be, please."

"Well, newsflash, I can read minds," I explained. "You are Kopaka. I'm sure of it."

"You can?" He was surprised. He sighed, then sat up from his slumped position and pulled back his hood, revealing that most unique of masks; the Kanohi Akaku Nuva. It was old, and looked as though it had sustained plenty of damage, but it was still easily recognizable.

"I'm a Toa, too," I explained, "a Toa of…"

"…of psionics." He cut me off. He eyed me up and down with that alien, calculating gaze of his. The lenses in his scope made constant, minute adjustments, adding to the effect, as though he was trying to find just the right arrangement to allow him to see right through me. "You look new."

"I am, sir." I replied.

"They still need Toa these days?" Skepticism… a hint of irony.

"Rebellious Skakdi," I explained. "Hardly Toa-worthy in the end, but some panicky Turaga decided they needed a Toa anyways. So I was chosen."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I was passing through Ko-Koro-Nuva when I noticed you coming down from the mountains. I was wondering who you were, since, you know, I could only see a cloaked figure. So I followed you." A vague sense of relief. "But I really do want to know why you just disappeared up there."

"Why?"

"Because it matters!" now I was getting frustrated. "Those Ko-Matoran back there practically worship you!"

"I know. I saw the statue."

"Exactly! Shouldn't you announce to them first that you're back?"

"I am not back." He sighed.

"Then why are you here?"

"Again, none of your business. Leave me be, and do not tell anyone I am here." He pulled up the hood again.

"I can't just leave you be. You're hurt, you're in pain. I can feel it." I could feel it, and now that he was sitting and not using the cloak to fully conceal himself, I could see just what a condition he was in. His armor had many cuts, scrapes, and dents. His right leg had been badly busted and shoddily repaired, and numerous scars littered his body. The more I looked at him, the more I was horrified. What had happened to him?

"My pain is none of your concern. I will be fine."

"Are you going to get yourself fixed up?"

"Yes."

"Well, would you mind if I came along, then?" I asked. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

"So things have not changed in that respect." For a moment, I was confused. Then I remembered what I'd heard about the Toa Nuva before, about how they'd split up. From what I knew, the Toa had begun to argue and bicker over what they should do now that the planet had been reformed. They'd all disagreed on their future as a team, and in the end decided that there was no point in them… being a team any longer, since there was no great evil to threaten the Matoran anymore. It had been a bitter breakup, particularly for the Toa of Water.

"No, things haven't changed, I guess." I informed him.

"You have become a Toa in a world that still does not need any," Kopaka said bitterly. Unlike his voice, his face betrayed no emotion, but I could sense a degree of pity, and decided to play on it.

"Yeah… Now that those Skakdi have been put in line, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with myself."

"You are looking for a purpose." A shared recognition.

"Yes."

"Good luck finding one." Was that… a glimmer of empathy? Surely, he of all people knew what it was like to be left without a purpose?

"Until I do… would you mind if I stuck with you? I promise I won't tell anyone who you are."

"If you must. But do not expect me to stick around here for long."

"Thank you. I'm Lis, by the way."

So he was willing to tolerate me. That was enough. Looking at him, I was concerned. In his condition, and at his age, if he went back into those mountains it wouldn't be long before he was dead for real. I'm not sure whether I was hoping to talk him out of going back, or whether I just wanted to spend whatever time I could with one of the legendary Toa Nuva before he disappeared for good. Or I just wanted to make sure he got fixed up well. But either way, I was coming with him, and while I had the opportunity, I figured I might learn something about the Toa Nuva along the way.

True to form, he did not talk for the rest of the journey, instead sitting in silent contemplation all the way to Onu-Koro-Nuva. I attempted to read into his mind, to peer beyond the silent exterior, but hard as I tried I couldn't decipher much of anything. First off, there was this constant sensation of severe physical pain, which he was apparently able to ignore, but it was profoundly disorientating for me. Whenever I tried to get a picture of his thoughts, I was bombarded with this astounding stream of information. Sometimes, I caught a hint of a constellation moving in the sky, then the view would expand to include more stars, then more… and then everything would be jumbled again, as though he had moved to a scale my brain simply couldn't process. Then there would only be the pain. Legends always told of the Kopaka's intelligence, of the way he'd analyze and process things at incredible speeds as though he could see the future; they were right. I couldn't keep up, and even trying to do so was exhausting. Still, if he was bothered by me reading in on his thoughts, he didn't tell me.

In Onu-Koro-Nuva several Matoran and Agori left the train, after which more boarded. We still had the back car to ourselves; it clearly wasn't a busy day. The journey to New Atero would take a full day, and having just spent six hours attempting to read the Toa Nuva of Ice's mind and not getting anything, I decided to try and engage him in conversation again instead.

"So, what did you do in the mountains?" I asked.

"Meditate."

"Meditate on what?"

"You would not understand."

"Are you sure about that?"

"You were trying all night, were you not? Did you figure anything out?"

"Not much, to be honest… So could you explain?"

"I cannot make clear to you with mere speech what you could not understand directly from my mind."

"Okay, that's a bit rude." Not even a benefit of the doubt? How demeaning.

"Is it not true?" He locked eyes on me, again with that uncomfortable, piercing gaze.

"I mean, yeah… but you don't need to say it bluntly like that. You're basically calling me stupid."

"You are incapable of comprehending my thoughts. So compared to me, you are stupid."

"Again with the insults."

"It is not an insult. It is the truth." I was getting angry at him, but I could sense no… resentment, no intent to mock me, not a demeaning thought on his mind. He was judgmental, maybe, but I could only conclude that he hadn't at all intended to insult me in any way. He simply said what he saw, regardless of the consequences.

"So, you always tell the truth straight up like that?" I asked.

"Always have."

"Did that happen to contribute in any way to the breakup of your team?" Honestly, I was curious as to what he'd think of that.

"I had nothing to do with the breakup," he said coldly.

"How can you be so sure about that?" Now I had him. Surely, the most solitary of the Toa Nuva would have had the least to lose from the team breaking up? It was hard to believe that he hadn't had something to do with it.

"I did not start the arguments. I did not participate in them. I did not make things worse by trying to intervene," Kopaka explained. "It was inevitable."

"Then who started the arguments?" I asked. "And how do you know that interfering would have made things worse?"

"I do not have time to tell you that whole story."

"Then don't." I suggested. "Just think it. I'll pull out of it what I can."

"Think the story?"

"Recall the memories, and I'll read them. It'll be quicker than you telling me everything."

Kopaka sighed. "Fine."

I closed my eyes, focused on his presence, and zoned in on his thoughts. Suddenly, I wasn't on the train anymore; my senses had been replaced by those of Kopaka, or rather, the senses that formed that memory. I should note that I had used that power once or twice before; usually recent memories were quite vivid, while those from further back tended to be much more blurred and unclear. Kopaka's memories had none of this; everything I got from him, I got in full detail, so much so that it was almost overwhelming. All sensation of where I actually was had gone; I was living Kopaka's memory in perfect clarity.


	2. Chapter 2

I was standing, leaning against a wall at the side of a meeting room. Out of the windows I could see the city of New Atero; I was high above the ground, probably at the top of one of the city's skyscrapers. The room was circular; in its center was a large table with six chairs arranged around it, five of which were occupied by the other Toa Nuva: Tahu, Onua, Gali, Lewa, and Pohatu. Tahu and Gali looked frustrated. Onua and Pohatu were paying attention, but looked worried. Lewa looked bored.

"It's not what we stand for," Gali said. "It's using your powers for barbaric entertainment, and the Agori gamble on it. We are Toa, protectors of the Matoran, of this planet. We should be above that."

"Well, what else do you expect me to do?" Tahu asked. "Sit around with the Turaga and break up minor trade disputes like you?"

"That is our job now," the Toa of Water argued. "We helped to save this world, now we must act to maintain it, for the good of the Matoran and the Agori."

"Which the Turaga have covered just fine," Tahu shot back. "And I'm not going to spend my days sitting next to them and pretending I have a reason to be there."

"Well, those Turaga aren't always going to be around," Gali pointed out. "And when they're gone, who will take their place? Us."

"That won't happen anytime soon," Tahu said. "And I'm not going to just sit and wait around for it. I need something else to do."

"Why can't you find something peaceful, something respectful to do then, like the rest of us?" Gali pleaded.

"We're Toa. We fight to protect others!" Tahu got up. "And having run out of people to protect, I'll be damned if I stop fighting too!" He slammed his fist on the table. His declaration staggered the others; for a few seconds an awkward silence hung over the room. Tahu took a deep breath, then sat back down. "Besides," he argued, "it's just a competition, no different than what Pohatu does these days, right, Pohatu?"

"Kolhii is competitive," Pohatu agreed.

"And what about you, Onua?" Tahu turned to the Toa of Earth. "Don't the workers of the most productive mineshafts get rewarded every month? That's competition, too."

"I won't deny that," Onua grumbled, "but there's a major difference between that and Kolhii and what you do."

"Which is?" Tahu inquired.

"The issue isn't with competition," Pohatu explained, "believe me, I'm completely on your side with that. The issue is that these fights can and do go to the death, and that outrageous bets are being placed on them."

"And you know what the Toa code says about killing and gambling" Onua finished.

"I've dealt with that!" Tahu argued. "I told them that I would not kill anyone, regardless of who they put me up against! And I don't place bets! I swore on that."

"But what if they end up killing you?" Gali implored. "Not everyone who steps into that arena follows that code. What if you go down in there and your opponent decides that they've had enough of you?"

"Simple." Tahu said. "I make sure that I don't go down."

"Yeah, like that'll last forever," Lewa grinned. "Imagine the headlines in the Chronicler's Digest: planet-saving Toa-hero killed for Agori entertainment."

"There'd be Matoran riots if that came true," Onua said.

"Which is why it won't happen," Tahu insisted. "Like I said; if the fight is to the death, I don't agree to enter into it. Simple as that. Meeting adjourned." With that, he marched out of the room.

Gali's expression was one of shock and sadness. "He's going to get himself killed." She said despondently, "and he'll ruin us in the process."

"Actually, he's making bucket-loads of money off of people quick-betting on him," Lewa pointed out. "Until the old firespitter hits a spot of hard-luck, that is. What's so teri-bad about that?"

"The problem," Gali explained, "is that as Toa we have a certain responsibility to uphold a moral standard, and Tahu… isn't. Have you seen some of those gladiators?"

"Of course," Lewa said nonchalantly. "I watch Tahu fight and beat them."

"They're thugs, bandits, monsters," Gali said. "They sometimes throw Rahkshi into that place. Tahu's in there fighting the Makuta's spawn for entertainment; as though he wasn't in mortal danger. Remember how many Matoran the Rahkshi killed?"

"Well, he relishes it," Lewa said, "and I think he's ever-fun to watch. So cry moral outrage all you want, sister, but if there's no Matoran that need to be quick-saved I think Tahu's fine doing what he is. And unless we have other things to think-talk about, I'm going to high-fly to someplace where this discussion won't follow." He got up, and when no one replied, dove out of an open window and soared off.

"I don't believe this…" Gali said exasperatedly.

"Look, sister," Pohatu got up. "I agree with you that it's wrong, but Tahu needs this. He's been itching to fight something, anything, for ages. If he can't let that energy out somehow, he'll blow up at something else eventually. At least the arena is right next door, so if anything does happen we can be there in a flash."

"And in the meantime he's making a mockery of what it means to be a Toa!" Gali blurted out. "We have to find something else for him, something that doesn't make him into a sideshow for the Agori to gamble on!"

"Well, he doesn't care for Kolhii 'cause it involves running around with a 'petty stick'," Pohatu said, "and there's not a lot of other sports out there in which there's even enough Toa around to provide any competition. As for hunting wild rahi… what's out there giving anyone trouble these days?"

"We occasionally have trouble with tunneling beasts in the mines," Onua noted, "but I already told him about that. He said he doesn't want to be a mere vermin exterminator, and he'd go crazy underground regardless."

"Well we've got to find something." Gali said resolutely. She got up. "I'm going to rest for a while. Turaga Nokama might call on me later today."

"Yeah, I've got Kolhii practice to attend," Pohatu remembered. He followed Gali out the door, leaving just me and Onua, who was still sitting at the table with a look I could only describe as one of extreme disappointment.

"You know," he turned to me, "It's not what we do, so long as we believe we're doing good; it's how we go about it." He got up, too. "We have always faced disaster together and overcome it together. When there was disagreement, we compromised as best we could. That was our strength; we were a team. This… discussion, this discontent… it's made them forget who we are, what we were, and what we stand for."

"When there is no good left to be done," I said, surprising myself, "there is no reason for heroes to exist. The world doesn't require this team anymore."

"Perhaps you're right," Onua said bitterly, "but if our brothers and sister had any respect for who we were, they'd be willing to put their differences aside for each other."

That's when everything went blank. For a moment, I felt like I was in freefall; then something hit me and I snapped back into the real world. I looked around; I was on the train, in the back car. We were still hurtling along the track. Kopaka was standing in front of me.

"D-did you just hit me?" I asked.

"You were stuck." Kopaka said matter-of-factly. "I finished that memory, so I snapped you out of it."

"How long has it been?"

"Three minutes."

"Oh… and that memory… was that the meeting where you guys decided to break apart?"

Kopaka sat back down and sighed. "I wish."

I waited for him to continue. "aaaand?"

"That was the first one, the first after Tahu started fighting in the arena. It was the catalyst."

"How so?"

"We used to meet weekly, and every time it would devolve into an argument between Tahu and Gali about what Tahu was doing. None of us wanted to be there, so weekly meetings became monthly ones, then yearly ones. We had that debate over a thousand times within half as many years."

"Didn't anyone ever find a solution?" I asked.

"Onua tried, so did Pohatu. They did not find anything that satisfied Tahu's need for something to fight. My brother… he had to be a hero. If he could not be a hero, then he felt worthless. And Gali never came to understand that. Onua tried to get them to compromise, but was rebuffed until he got fed up with it and threw himself into his work instead. Lewa got tired of the arguments even more quickly, so he would fly off the moment it started."

"And you?"

"I could see the team's days were over. I had worked with them because we needed to fight the Makuta. Without a common threat to put our differences aside for, those differences made themselves all too obvious, to the point where the others were bickering over everything. I had seen enough by that point."

"Did you end it?"

"No. We had our last meeting after a two-year period in which we did not meet as a team at all; there was no point. The first thing that happened was that Gali pointed out Tahu's new arena scars. It only went downhill from there, but Tahu brought it to a halt. He had had enough too, and called for a vote to officially disband the Toa Nuva, since we were not needed and not accomplishing anything as a team anymore. I voted 'yes,' so did Tahu, Lewa, Onua, and Pohatu. Only Gali voted 'no.'"

"Hold the thought." I focused in on his mind again; this was a moment I had to see for myself.

"Fine…" Kopaka sighs again.

My senses went blank for a second or two. Then I'm in the meeting room again, this time sitting at the table. Tahu is standing up; he looks older, everyone does, and his armor displays clear signs of battle damage. His hand is raised. Lewa, Pohatu, and Onua have theirs raised as well. My right hand is up in the air too.

"And all those in favor of staying together," Tahu announces. All hands are lowered, except Gali's. She raises her hand. It's shaking.

"Then I think it is clear," Tahu says, picking up his swords. "Brothers and Sister, it was an honor serving with you, but this world no longer needs us. Therefore, it is best that we go our separate ways. We'll keep contact as needed, but from this day forth, the Toa Nuva are disbanded." He turned and started for the door.

"NO!" Gali rose. "Does this mean nothing to you!?" She's pointing at the symbol carved on the wall: Unity, Duty, Destiny. "Who we were, what we accomplished together," she pleads, "don't you think that's worth fighting for!?" Her voice is hoarse, and there are tears in her eyes. "When we fought Makuta's Rahi!? When we faced the Bohrok, the Rahkshi, and even the Makuta themselves!?" No one replied. "Remember the Toa Ignika's sacrifice?!" Her voice broke. "…Matoro…Takanuva…" she was reduced to a whimper.

"Takanuva," Tahu said, "did what the rest of us should have done a long time ago: he left to find his own way." The proud warrior's eyes weren't dry anymore, and looking around the room, I could see that, in fact, everyone was struggling to come to terms with what had happened. Tahu turned, hesitated for a moment, then walked out. Gali collapsed onto her knees.

"NO! YOU DESTROYED US!" she cried out, but Tahu was already gone. Onua followed, pausing for a moment to turn to Gali.

"No. You destroyed us." His voice was wavering, but it had an extraordinary edge to it. With that, the Toa of Earth left the room. Lewa followed, not even bothering to say anything on his way out. Pohatu stepped up to Gali.

"I'll stop by later, okay?" Then he turned to me. "I know what you're going to do," he said. "And that I won't have the chance to say this again." He paused for a moment to collect himself. "I know you don't like it, but…" he stepped forward and embraced me. I didn't return the gesture, but my vision was blurred; I was crying too. Pohatu stepped back. "Farewell, my brother. Take care of yourself out there."

I nodded. "I will. You do the same." Pohatu nodded in response, then made his way out the door. After a few seconds, I did the same.

"Brother…" I looked down to see Gali reaching up from the floor. Her face… she was in anguish. A mother who lost her child would not have wept as Gali did there; she looked like the world had ended before her very eyes. "Don't… please don't leave too…"

I have to swallow before I can speak. "P-Pohatu will be back. He'll be here. You always knew I wouldn't be."

"No… NO!" she howls. I turn around.

"Farwell, Gali." With my head down, I walk out the door and down the steps leading to the ground level. All the way down, I can hear Gali screaming.

"NO! DON'T GO PLEASE! THIS IS NOT HOW WE END! DON'T LEAVE!"

Everything goes dark. For a few seconds, I'm staring at nothingness. Then I'm back again, back in the train. We're in a tunnel; the lights in the train flicker on and off as it hurtles down the track. The only sound is the droning and thumping of the train wheels against the track. Kopaka is sitting across from me, bowed over, elbows resting on his knees. I sense a whirlwind of emotions inside him: fear, sadness, anger… but one overrides all of them: regret. When he realizes the memory is over, he slowly raises his head and looks right at me.

His eyes are filled with tears.


	3. Chapter 3

For about fifteen minutes, neither of us said anything. I was still trying to process what had happened; sure, I'd known beforehand that the breakup hadn't been pretty, but it'd turned out to be beyond anything I could've imagined. Kopaka sat in silence, but was different than before; not his usual, antisocial self-isolation. No, he was in pain, and not just physically. I could sense it; he was fighting it, determined not to let too much show on the outside, regardless of whether or not I could see in. I still remember that, even now, even through the tragedy I had witnessed right beforehand; the way he would fight himself to keep up appearances. It wasn't vanity, at least I don't think so. In his mind, Kopaka saw himself a certain way, and he tried to project that at all times. To anyone else, he would have appeared a stoic, steadfast Toa, a fixed point unmoved by excess emotion, rational to a fault. That's who he was to himself, and who he was determined to be to others. But there were feelings in there; very strong ones, and he fought them constantly. It must have been exhausting for him.

But he did regain his composure. "So, now you know what happened," he said calmly.

"That's how it ended?"

"That was the end. I have not seen any of them since."

"And, you just left Gali there like that? That was a full-fledged breakdown happening behind you."

Toa of Ice's eyes narrowed. "Gali," he said with a hint of contempt, "was the one who drove the split. She was the one who kept insisting that Tahu find something else to do, something more in line with the morals of a Toa."

"Was there something wrong with that?" I asked.

"It re-ignited that argument every time we met," Kopaka explained. "Everyone would take a side, and soon they were arguing about every little thing and nothing ever got done. We all grew tired of it, even Onua."

"I remember that… He told Gali that she'd driven the team part."

" _No, you destroyed us,_ " Kopaka said, doing a surprisingly good imitation of Onua's voice. "He was right. We all agreed on that. Gali could not come to terms with the fact that we were not needed as Toa anymore, so she desperately clung on to what we had been when the rest of us had long let go."

"But still… She mentioned the history, everything you all went through together. Surely, you all owed your lives to each other, her included. Was it really necessary for him to just… put her down like that?"

"History is for the scholars to study and the Turaga to tell tales of around a campfire," Kopaka said coldly. He was back to his harsh, calculating self. "We could not live our lives like her, purely for history's sake. Time changes, we change with it. Unwilling to do so, she got left behind, and nearly took the rest of us down with her. Onua just had the guts to say it out loud."

"So it seems." I said curtly. But I couldn't get that image of Gali out of my head. Collapsed on the floor, mentally shattered… It was harrowing. I felt angry, angry with Kopaka and angry with the other Toa. They'd been frustrated with Gali and with each other, sure, but nothing could excuse how cruelly they'd left her; not even an apology, a hint of 'sorry, but this is how it is…' They'd just walked out on her and on each other. It was a disgrace.

Again, we were silent for a while. Kopaka slept; I tried to do the same, to clear my head, but the light streaming in through the windows and my frustration kept me up, so I looked at the passing landscape outside instead. Spherus Magna truly was a paradise; the area we were passing through now had once been a barren sea of sand dunes. Now, looking out I could see rolling green hills, with large herds of grazing rahi. The track was elevated on pillars, allowing me to see the landscape for miles around. We had left the mountains behind for the time being. Rivers crisscrossed the landscape, and sparse trees and bushes were littered throughout it. Sometimes, I spotted a hut in the distance; Matoran and Agori herders. By noon, we were traveling through a forest, whose canopy provided enough shade for me to actually fall asleep. When I awoke a few hours later, Kopaka had returned to his silent contemplation.

"So," I began, "you're planning to just walk into the capital of the planet, get yourself fixed up, and then disappear again?"

"Yes." He seemed perplexed as to why that was even in question.

"And you expect no one to recognize you?"

"I will be invisible until I need to be seen."

"How?" This was rather curious to me. Rather than answering verbally, the Toa of Ice reached behind him and pulled out a mask. I couldn't name its design off of the top of my head, but he switched it with his Akaku, then instantly vanished. The bench in front of me was empty, except… the cushion was still depressed, as though someone was still sitting there, and there was a shadow. Kopaka reappeared.

I was trying to figure out exactly where I had seen that mask's design before. Then I got it: "Turaga Vakama wore a mask like that!"

"Indeed. It is a Kanohi Huna. The mask of concealment. It is a noble version, but it will do. I obtained it from Turaga Nuju before I left. Figured it might come in handy someday." Kopaka switched the Huna back for his Akaku Nuva and stored it.

"To use if your disguise fails?"

"Exactly."

"And how do you expect this 'fixing up' to work? Whoever does that will see who you are. It's inevitable." I was having a difficult time seeing how this plan of his could actually succeed.

"I will find someone I can trust."

"Like?"

"Gali."

"What!?" I couldn't believe this. "After split, after the way you left her, you still expect her to help you!? That's crazy!"

"Gali is an excellent healer," he argued, "and she is strong. She will have recovered and found her feet."

"And you think she'll jump at the chance to fix your busted leg?"

"No. But her sense of duty is stronger than her anger towards me."

"So, let me get this straight; her duty is to take care of you?" Again, I increasingly found myself disliking Kopaka's attitude. How did he think that that was even remotely reasonable?

"No." He sighed. "She has the ability to heal terrible wounds, so that becomes part of her duty. Or rather, she made it part of her duty when she showed herself willing to exercise that ability. Unity, Duty, Destiny, remember? We may have abandoned unity, but duty remains; our duty to others. Hers is to heal others."

"What about destiny?"

"We reached destiny when Mata Nui reformed this planet," Kopaka explained. "From that point on, we were to make our own path on this world, based on our duty."

"Uh-huh…" there was something incongruent about his thinking that I was trying to pin down. "So, what's your duty, then? What ability are you using up there in those mountains to fulfill your duty to others?" That was the 'gotcha' question; if he could justify Gali having to heal him because it was her 'duty,' what duty was he fulfilling by wandering off, never to be heard of again?

"Discovery. At the top of those mountains, I always have an unobstructed view of the stars," Kopaka explained. "I study them, I chart them, and through that figure out the ways of this universe. When I decipher them, Matoran and Agori will be able to reach up to the stars and find new worlds to settle."

"And... are you close to figuring that out?"

"There is a ways to go. But I have already made progress beyond current understanding. You saw it, you did not understand. That is why I work alone."

"Right…" I didn't agree, but I felt like nothing would be gained by pushing this line of inquiry further. This was the side of Kopaka that I didn't like; he acted as though he was above everyone else, and perhaps intellectually he was, but he blatantly disregarded how the way in which he behaved or what he said affected others. He never considered how the Ko-Matoran felt about him vanishing the way he had; they believed he was dead, they grieved for him even though he was still alive, and he had no qualms about it. Nor did he see anything wrong with just marching up to Gali and ordering her to 'heal him' because it was her 'duty' to do so, in spite of the way he had left her when he at the very least could have offered some support. There wasn't a question in his mind; he believed what he did was right, in spite of the pain it caused others. I hate to use the old cliché, but Kopaka was openly, frustratingly cold.

So I went back to asking about his plans instead. Surely, he'd forgotten about something, something that I could use to show him that he didn't know everything as well as he thought he did?

"What if Gali isn't around anymore?" I asked.

"Then I will have to find someone else."

"How do you expect to find anyone else? Or Gali herself, for that matter?"

"Talk to other Toa. There will be some around. They should understand my situation, and at least one of them has to know of a healer somewhere who would be able to help."

"And it's their 'duty' to point that person out to you?"

"No. But few would not, as you say: 'jump at the chance' to help a fellow Toa."

"Are you sure about that? It's not like you've done anything for them that they know of."

Kopaka looked me straight in the eyes. "You are a Toa. You are here, are you not? Did I force you to come with me? Did I tell you it was your duty to accompany me? No. I did not. Did you have any reason of your own to be here, on this train, right now?"

"Not really…"

"And yet you are here." Again, he was staring right through me. Those lenses had found the right alignment.

"Yeah… Yeah I guess I am." Well, he had me there. I was really coming to hate the way in which he could just detach himself, to analyze me and others like pawns a game. But he was right; I was here because I thought he needed help, needed someone to talk to, and I'd been more than willing to help him, to be that person. Increasingly, I was coming to the conclusion that he didn't need anything from me. He had everything all sorted out. Were it not for that busted leg, he'd probably not even have come down from those mountains at all. Frustrated but beaten, I didn't question his plan any further. Besides, even if I'd found a serious shortcoming, it's not like he would have changed it for my sake. Honestly, as night began to settle in, signaling that we were on the final part of our journey, I had half the mind to just leave him and head off on my own in New Atero.

So, want to know why I stuck with him? At this point, it might have seem like I was wasting my time, like I was just tagging along with no reason. Well, thing is, I didn't have anything better to do. I was in the same boat as Kopaka had been; a 'hero' in a world that didn't need one. And, much as his cold demeanor and detached view of others annoyed me, and made him seem more and more like a massive jerk, I wanted to see how the other Toa would react to seeing him again; especially Gali when he told her he'd come back just to get his leg fixed. For better or worse, I was along for the ride.

I had no idea how hard the next few days would be for both of us.


	4. Chapter 4

New Atero: the capital of an entire planet. It looked the part; larger than even Metru Nui, the fabled City of legends, its skyscrapers could be spotted from miles away; far enough that Kopaka, with his telescopic vision, noted that he could see their tops over the horizon almost thirty minutes before we actually arrived in the outskirts of the city. From a distance, it resembled a silver disk with a series of spires rising out of its center, nestled on the coast among lush, green farmland in which Bo-Matoran and jungle Agori worked and cultivated all manner of crops. As we got closer, it became possible to distinguish the individual districts and elevated train tracks entering the city in multiple locations. Kopaka pulled up his hood.

Having never been in New Atero myself, I was amazed at the place; everything looked modern and new, though many buildings had been decorated with traditional elements from Matoran and Agori architecture. In the outskirts of the city, the poorer areas, most buildings were made with clay bricks or wood, but as we got closer to the city center, concrete and then metal and glass dominated the landscape. The skyscrapers dispersed throughout the city center were the modern incarnation of Ko-Metru's knowledge towers: gazing up at their peaks, I could just distinguish a number of telescopes that peered out in multiple directions. By now, our track was flanked by another on the right and two on the left; we were getting close to the central station.

The central station was a gargantuan building, connected on its west side to the largest knowledge tower, and on the right to the Turaga building, where the elder council met. This was the epicenter of all Matoran and Agori society on Spherus Magna; it was where the Turaga governed from, where great events where held, where cutting-edge research was being done. Elevated walkways filled with Matoran moving back and forth stretched between the structures; though we arrived only half an hour after sunrise, already this was a place of feverish activity. How Kopaka intended to pass through unnoticed was beyond me; even if he turned invisible, sooner or later someone would run into him and the game would be up.

The Toa of Ice seemed utterly unfettered by such concerns. I don't mean that he didn't show any outward physical signs of worry; no, even inside I could sense no tension of any kind. He was completely relaxed, assured that his plan would work out fine. Secretly, I kind of hoped his confidence would prove premature, just to see how he'd react to things not going his way. When the train stopped and the door opened, he calmly made his way onto the platform, looked around for a moment, then began to make his way across the busy space to the wall on the other side. I followed. Matoran and Agori disembarking and boarding the train passed us by in every direction. Some greeted us with a "Good morning, Toa," or a respectful head nod. Kopaka got stared at a lot; not surprising, since his decrepit old cloak cut a stark contrast to the modern station and clean, business-minded Matoran all around. Yet it accomplished its main purpose; hard as they looked, no one seemed to recognize who he was. He was hiding in plain sight by standing out like a sore thumb… Kind of funny now that I think about it.

For a moment, I was wondering exactly where he was going, since he didn't seem to be heading for any of the platform exits. Turns out he'd spotted something through the crowd that I hadn't: a small stand off to the side, set up against the wall, where a Fa-Matoran sold maps of the city. Kopaka stopped in front of it; even hunched over and leaning on the stick he was using as a cane, he still loomed over the tiny stand like a threatening giant.

The Fa-Matoran, clearly unnerved by the mysterious figure in front of him, greeted the stranger hesitantly: "H-Hello. Good morning, sir. Can I help you?"

Kopaka didn't reply in voice; instead he pointed at a rack of maps that were set up on the vendor's right. The Fa-Matoran grabbed one.

"A map of the city? Of course, of course… It's three widgets, sir."

Kopaka reached under his cloak and behind his back, rummaged around for a moment, then extended his arm forwards and dropped three widgets on the counter. He then grabbed the map from the bewildered Matoran's hand and proceeded towards one of the platform exits.

"H-have a good day, sir…"

The platform exit lead down a set of stairs to a large lobby below, from which we exited onto the central square of New Atero. It was a massive, open circular space, with flagpoles arranged around a statue of the Great Spirit robot in its center. The flags of various Matoran and Agori tribes hung motionless; there wasn't a breath of wind on this day. A fair number of Matoran and Agori were moving about across the square, and a few vendors had set up stands by the edges. Kopaka made his way to one of the benches that were positioned in a ring around the statue and the flags. After taking a seat, he unfolded the map and proceeded to study it. For a minute or two, I didn't say anything while he took in every square inch. Then I got bored.

"So, where are we going to look for Toa?" I asked.

"Wherever we are most likely to find them."

"Okay…so, where do we start?"

"So far, north looks to be the way to go," Kopaka asserted.

"What's to the north?"

"The Arena Magna."

"And…?"

Kopaka turned to his left and pointed at a large billboard set up above the railway line by which we'd arrived. It announced:

THE ULTIMATE PRIZE FIGHT!

TAHU, MASTER OF FIRE VS. STRONIUS, LORD OF THE SKRALL!

BE THERE – FEBRUARY 18th IN THE ARENA MAGNA!

"Oh…" I was a bit miffed about having missed something that obvious. The board was even decorated with promotional images of the fighters and bright red and black decals, with fire rushing in from Tahu's side and a sort of blocky, dark energy from Stronius' side. "Today's the 18th, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Well, what are we waiting for, then?"

"One minute." So I waited a minute. At the end of it, almost as if on cue, Kopaka grabbed his stick, got up, turned north, and off we went. When we passed a trash can, he tossed the map into it.

"Don't we need that?" I asked.

"I have it." He answered. I wasn't so sure, but I wasn't going to root around the trash can for it.

The road from the station to the Arena Magna was a long, wide parkway, clearly built to accommodate the kind of mass foot traffic that a high-stakes prize fight would generate. Again, Kopaka got a lot of questioning looks, and again it appeared that his disguise was successful. I was starting to like the humble, respectful way in which Matoran and Agori would greet me; it was an acknowledgement of how much they owed to heroes like us, though I wasn't sure whether I was really deserving of their reverence.

I was amazed, though, by everything arranged along the parkway: large, leafy trees provided shade to the Matoran and Agori making their way about, and the sides were lined with shops and vending stands of all kinds. Perhaps it was particularly busy that day since a prize fight was happening; I noticed one particular stand was selling little plastic figurines representing the two fighters on that night. I was tempted to go get one of Tahu, but I didn't want to lose Kopaka in the crowd. Though, to be fair, we both stood head and shoulders above most of them, and it wasn't like he was moving all that quickly with his limp, and he was the only person I'd seen walking around wearing a ragged cloak do to conceal his identity, so in retrospect I probably could have gone and gotten one anyway.

The Arena Magna soon came into view; a giant colosseum, built in the Agori style since watching gladiatorial combat had originally been mostly an Agori pastime. Only after the arena's completion had it become more popular among the Matoran as well, probably because one of their heroes now participated in it. There were two open ticket booths; Kopaka approached the one on the right. Like the map vendor in the train station, the Agori behind the counter was somewhat intimidated by the mysterious stranger in a dark, weathered cloak standing in front of him, and again Kopaka got is point across without a single word said. After he got the ticket salesman's attention, he simply turned, pointed at another billboard advertising the nights' prize fight.

"Tickets for tonight's fight?"

Kopaka gave a slow head nod indicating 'yes.'

"How many, sir?"

Kopaka held up one finger.

"One ticket, that'll be twenty widgets." Twenty widgets? That arena could sit thousands. No wonder these prize fights were big business if that's what people were paying to watch. The scene from the station repeated itself, with Kopaka reaching behind him, gathering the collected widgets from storage, and dumping them unceremoniously on the counter.

"Okay, just one moment…" the Agori proceeded to count the widgets, but math clearly wasn't his strong suit and Kopaka wasn't keen on waiting. He snatched the ticket from the Agori's hand, mumbled something along the lines of "there's twenty there," turned around, and started back down the parkway. The Agori was stunned.

"He's like that," I told him. "Looks like twenty to me, though. And I'd like a ticket too."

After paying the exorbitant price, I turned and found Kopaka standing in front of the booth selling the figurines. He was holding one of Tahu and inspecting it closely. After I caught up, he put it down, informed the Agori running the stand that Tahu 'didn't look reckless enough,' and we were on our way again. He turned and headed down a narrow side street, then proceeded to lead me on a crisscrossing path through the maze of side streets and alleyways that connected this part of the city.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Someplace quiet." How typical.

"You know, for someone who really wants to stay anonymous, you sure do make an effort to stand out."

"Trying not to get noticed would be more suspicious," Kopaka asserted.

"Can't fault you for that one… But why'd you stop by that toy stand?"

"Those figurines were of Tahu," he explained, "and they were very detailed. Assuming they were accurate, they could've given me an idea of how my brother is doing."

"You actually care?" This was news to me.

"No, but it is useful to get an idea before I meet him face to face."

"And what did the figures tell you about him?"

"All the figures were missing their right eye, so it is safe to assume that my brother is missing his. Their armor has many cuts and scrapes, which he would normally have fixed as soon as possible, but on the figures they are signs of status, signifying that he has won many battles."

"Well, he's Tahu. Of course he's won lots of battles."

"There were sixty figures of my brother set up on that table," he continued, "and only ten of his opponent. That shows who is more popular, and who is deemed more likely to win the fight."

"Okay, get to the point."

"My brother has become a celebrity around here, and knowing him, that has likely gone to his head. He may prove difficult to talk to, especially concerning Gali."

"Right…" frankly, I still wasn't sure what the point of all that was, but once again, there was no doubt on his mind. So I changed subject again: "When's this fight supposed to start?"

That one he wouldn't even dignify with a verbal answer. Instead, he held up his ticket, which clearly said 7:00 PM. Again, I got that same vague sense of disappointment, mixed with just a little annoyance. Had he expected to find a lead sooner, or one that he could follow up on more immediately, or was he just tired of answering my questions? He betrayed nothing, much to my frustration. So, content to just see where he was heading, I followed in silence.

He made his way through the urban maze without hesitation, not even stopping to look at the street signs. I was about to ask him again where we were heading and demand a more concrete answer when he suddenly turned again and arrived at our apparent destination; a park, still not far from the city center, a patch of Nature nestled within a forest of metal, concrete, and glass. A sign read:

"Matoro Memorial Park"

"Matoro Memorial Park?" I'd never heard of this place.

"So the sign says."

"Who's Matoro?" I asked. Suddenly, I felt a surge of… something within him. That question struck a chord. He stopped walking and turned to me.

"You have never heard of Matoro?"


	5. Chapter 5

I'd heard of Matoro, of course, but largely only in name. They teach about him in schools, but history is usually not a subject one pays great attention to. Something about 'what it means to be a hero' and all that. I was just a Matoran then; what use was knowing how to be a hero to me? We had Toa for that, and no, at the time I really didn't see myself ever becoming a Toa. Clearly, though, Matoro meant something to Kopaka.

"Come," he said, so I followed again. The park's arrangement was roughly circular, and Kopaka led me down a path to a hill in its very center, which was crowned by a statue. A large plaque identified the statue:

Toa Mahri Matoro, Savior of Mata Nui

A lengthy paragraph below described Matoro's actions, but at that moment my mind was more occupied with the statue itself; statues of heroes were common in any populated area on Spherus Magna, but this one was unlike any I'd ever seen; heroes are usually depicted standing tall, self-assured, and they have a degree of… authority about them. Matoro had none of that. First off, he was in this bizarre, tumbling pose, like he tripped on something while backing up. His back was arched, causing him to look towards the sky, as opposed to straight ahead or down upon those standing at his feet. His left arm, its hand equipped with an odd weapon resembling a set of curved hooks, reached upwards as well, giving the impression that he was calling out to something above him. In his right hand, he held a gatling-type cannon that looked far too heavy for him, and even in this odd pose, it was obvious that he had a comparatively frail physique, coupled with a hunchbacked posture usually only displayed by the far bulkier Toa of Earth. I only know that because I worked with one. And while the statue was marble, Matoro's mask alone was done in gold.

"Bit of an odd statue, don't you think?" I observed. "Just… the pose is weird."

"This is the most important moment in the history of the Matoran," Kopaka said solemnly. "The pose is because he was falling into Karda Nui at the time he made his sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?"

"He gave his life so Mata Nui could be saved, so all of us could be saved."

"Oh…" That's why we covered him in class… Turns out I probably should have been paying attention at the time; this wasn't the first time that I'd come to realize that long after the class in question was over. "Could you tell me? Or better yet, show me?"

"I was not there at the time. I only heard about what Matoro did from others. If you wish to see, you should seek out one of the other Toa Mahri."

"Oh… okay, I will." I turned back to the statue. "What's with the mask?"

"It is the Kanohi Ignika." I'd heard of that one; its design was imprinted on pretty much everything of great importance as a symbol of Mata Nui. Apparently, the legendary mask itself was on display at the Museum of Shared History in the city. Another place I'd have to visit at some point. "Another Toa wearing it eventually made the sacrifice to wake up Mata Nui in the same way."

"Was that before or after the giant robots came?" The 'giant robot fight' was one of the few things I had payed attention to, because…well, giant robots, right?

"Several months before it. Mata Nui woke up, stood up, and then the Makuta took over. That was the darkest time for all of us; our worst enemy was in control of literally everything we knew, and he used that power at his whim."

"It sounds terrible... Were you in there when he and Mata Nui fought?"

"Yes. We evacuated everyone during the fight, then fought the legions of rahkshi that Makuta unleashed on us."

"Could you show me that?"

"At some point, yes. But not now."

"Okay…" At first, I wasn't quite sure why Kopaka wanted me to wait, but looking back on it now, I think that it was because we were in a public place. Memory sharing is… it's an intimate process, and especially if the memory is a tough one, it can release a flood of emotion; we saw that on the train. Kopaka didn't want to deal with that in public, but I think he appreciated the efficiency of memory sharing as opposed to telling the story by mouth. So we waited. I read the story on the plaque, which briefly mentioned Matoro's participation in the fight against "Piraka," which were apparently some kind of Skakdi, and "Barraki," who I didn't even recall from history lessons. After that, it basically reiterated what I'd already been told, so I sat down next to Kopaka, who was once again just waiting silently while deciphering the mysteries of the universe. From memory.

I tried to read into his mind again to try and figure some of it out, but got nowhere. However, it did keep me occupied to where the hours in the park went by surprisingly rapidly. More surprising was the fact that no other Toa showed up in the park all day. I figured Kopaka might have chosen the spot to wait by the fact that he believed it likely that Toa would show up there, so on our way back I asked:

"Were we waiting in that park all day hoping another Toa might show up at some point?"

"No."

"Why, then?"

"It was the closest one." I guess that made sense, given that his limp probably made walking difficult, and I knew he was in pain. Still, I thought Kopaka might have taken a more…active approach to finding another Toa.

The lines into the arena were enormous. All the ticket booths were opened, selling and checking tickets before letting anyone in. Even though it was late in the evening by market standards, pretty much all the stands on the parkway were still open, and some selling various kinds of food and drink had set up shop as close to the arena as they were allowed.

"Great… we're going to be standing here forever…" I mumbled.

"No."

"What?"

"We cannot possibly stand here for more than an hour, or we would miss the start of the fight. So, we cannot stand here for forever." Were it not for my ability to passively read at least his surface thoughts, I wouldn't have known whether that was the analytical Toa's concept of a joke or he was being serious. He was being serious. I guess that, after waiting close to ten hours on a park bench, he really did not mind standing in line for just an hour longer. Except he did, because instead of making his way to the back of the lines, he walked right up to one particular Agori who, by his uniform, appeared to be one of the security guards.

"Excuse me," he got the guard's attention. "My friend here is a Toa who has saved many Matoran lives," he gestured to me. "…and I cannot stand for too long due to a leg injury I sustained while protecting many Matoran and Agori as well. Would it be okay for us to move forward so that we may take our seat before my leg becomes too much of a bother?"

"Uh…" the guard seemed a bit perplexed at the request. I was stunned too, but I soon regained my bearings and made sure to stand straight and look like I meant business: square shoulders, a neutral expression with a hint of disdain, and my arms folded across my chest. It did the trick. "Sure, sure you can go forward," the guard finally said, and he led us past the waiting crowd to the front of the line. I could sense a degree of resentment from many of the waiting Agori, though interestingly not from the Matoran. I did my best to maintain appearances, though.

"Have a great time," the guard said when we reached the ticket booth, at which point he turned around and went back to his post. Kopaka handed his ticket to the Agori behind the counter; the same one who we had bought the tickets from that morning. He stamped them, handed them back, and we were allowed to proceed into the Arena itself.

It was massive; there were enough seats for tens of thousands of Matoran and Agori, a real indication of how much both the sport and the planet's population had grown; I've heard it said that the population of Bara Magna before it was reformed into Spherus Magna could be seated in the new Arena Magna three times over. Now, one would need twenty to the same. Thanks to Kopaka's stunt, we were one of the first allowed in; that was when I found out we were seated in the very top row, about as far back from the fight as we could get. No one had sat down anywhere near there yet, so when we reached our seats I felt safe asking about what we'd just pulled.

"What were you thinking?"

"I did not want to stand for an hour. It hurts."

"I know, but still, did you really have to lie to them about us?"

"I did not tell any lies except by omission, and I omitted the parts that I did to conceal our identities."

"So yes. But what if he'd called us out on it?"

"He was about to, but I can be very persuasive." As he said that, he lifted the corner of his hood just enough so I could see his face, and… his mask had changed, but this one I thought I recognized.

"Is that… a Komau?"

"The mask of mind control. A noble one, yes, but it was sufficient on a weak-minded Agori."

"That's… that's just wrong."

"I could have used a Miru to fly us in instead, or the noble Huna to make myself invisible and sneak by, or a Matatu…"

"Okay, okay," interrupted, "I get it, there's all sorts of ways in which we could have gotten in. But why… why choose the one that involves messing with someone's mind?"

"It was the only way in which we were not breaking any laws. You are a Toa of Psionics: your powers can all be described as 'messing with someone's mind,' and you do not seem at all bothered by it."

"Because I understand the implications!" I blurted out. "I do not use my powers just to overcome some petty nuisance! There are serious questions to be asked here!" Then I realized that my outburst was probably attracting more attention than we were looking for. "Sorry…" I lowered my tone. "It's just… I know what misusing psionic abilities can do."

"As do I," Kopaka said. I shook my head; there probably had been some event in his past that had brought him face to face with psionic powers run rampant, so I couldn't really argue his point, but I felt like he was missing mine. Besides, there was another question on my mind:

"How in the world are we actually going to see the fight from all the way back here?"

"I can see just fine." He pulled back his hood slightly again, revealing that he had switched back to his Akaku Nuva. The scopes were trained on the arena field, still making slight adjustments here and there.

"Okay, but how am I supposed to see?"

"Squint."

Ugh… Like that was going to work out for a fight that could easily last over an hour. Clearly, Kopaka was used to wearing scoped masks. "Do you happen to have another mask that could give me that telescopic vision thing?" I asked him. "Just to borrow for the match?"

Kopaka rummaged around in storage behind his back for bit before pulling out a noble Ruru. "It does not have telescopic vision, but it will make slight improvements to your eyesight," he explained.

"That's as close as you've got? Just how many masks do you have?"

"Twelve." Wow… I'd heard some Toa liked to carry multiple masks and switch between them on occasion, but twelve? It'd be hard for anyone to keep half as many of them straight enough to actually be able make meaningful use of each one's powers; it required tremendous mental discipline. Then again, this was Kopaka… When I put on the Ruru, I noticed everything seemed a bit brighter and I could see detail a little further away. It was odd, and it took me a while to get used to and focus properly, but I eventually worked it to where I had a much better, if still not perfect view of the field than before.

Kopaka, meanwhile, scanned the crowd that steadily made its way into the arena and to their seats. He fixated for a while on what looked to be a press box located on the opposite end.

"You see anything of interest?" I asked him.

"Possibly."

"What do you mean, possibly?"

"You will see later." I looked at the press box to try and see who or what he had spotted, but it was so far away that I didn't have a hope of seeing anything in there, Ruru or no Ruru. So instead, I went back to trying to find Toa in the crowd until the announcer came online and announced the opening fight for the night; there would be anywhere between seven and ten fights; a four-entry best two-out-of-three elimination tournament lead up to the night's main event, the face-off between Tahu and Stronius.

I guess that all made the ticket price a little more worthwhile.


	6. Chapter 6

The opening tournament ended up taking close to an hour and a half. The contestants included a male Skakdi of Iron nicknamed "The Porcupine," who wore a suit of spiked armor to complement his spine and wielded a large morning star, a young female Glatorian of the Ice Tribe who had apparently looked to Gresh for inspiration in the design of her armor and her use of wrist-mounted fangblades, an aging Skrall warrior who mixed limited shadow powers with the traditional sword-and-shield weaponry of his people, and a male Vortixx who apparently fought for the glory of his master, Lady Soraka, with a spear and a pretty impressive set of martial arts moves.

The Skakdi unfortunately wiped the floor with him. The Vortixx' fighting style was fluid, with lots of sweeping motions of his spear, the tip of which could apparently light on fire. Unfortunately, none of this did him any good against the iron-clad Skakdi. Soraka's champion confounded the slow Skakdi for a while by dodging swings of the morning star and constantly maneuvering around him, but the fact remained that his opponent featured both a weapon that could cripple in one blow and armor that he simply couldn't get through, so that's how it went; eventually, the Skakdi got a hit in, and after that it was pretty much over. They didn't even have to run a second fight between these two; Soraka's man would spend the rest of his life crippled and humiliated. If his master even let him live, that is.

The match between the "Lady of the Frost" (no, I'm not kidding) and the Skrall was more interesting. The shadow powers had enhanced the already fearsome fighting moves of the Skrall even more: his combination of speed, defense with his shield, and offensive striking power with that massive blade was formidable, but when it came to speed I swear the Lady of the Frost was a blur on this battlefield. Even Kopaka must have found it hard to track her as she raced around the Skrall, blocked and redirected his every attack, and finally managed to down him with a sweep under the legs while he was off-balance after a strike. The second round, however, the Skrall came prepared. He used his shadow abilities more this time, using a 'shadow sword' move that basically extended the reach of his blade's wide sweeping attacks. It came as a total surprise to the Ice Glatorian and apparently most of the crowd too, judging from their reactions, and it ended up winning him the second round. 1-1.

For their final and deciding match, the Lady of the Frost packed some extra ammo for her thornax launcher, and it was the explosive kind. She started off by focusing on staying out of the Skrall sword's range and dodging the shadow bolts he hurled at her while firing thornax in return. The Skrall could easily block the thornax with his shield, but their spectacular explosions both thrilled the crowd and disoriented him with their concussive force. However, ice Glatorian still couldn't make the inroad that she had in the first match, and the Skrall came up with a novel technique: holding his shield above his head and spinning it rapidly while launching bolts of shadow from the edge, creating an 'umbrella' of falling bolts around him. It kept any attempts to get in melee range at bay, but his opponent now got a clear shot with the thornax launcher and took it. That was enough to down the Skrall, and the Lady of the Frost went on to face The Porcupine.

I expected the final between them to be a one-sided affair. She'd shown great skill, but ultimately the Glatorian's fighting style relied on the same principles as that of the Vortixx, and we all knew how well that worked out for him. Crucially, while he'd had a spear that might have been able to hit a weak spot in the Skakdi's armor if aimed well, she was relying on slashing motions that would likely have little effect in any case. Turned out that I underestimated the thornax again, though; the Porcupine's armor only added to the concussive effect of the exploding projectiles, so one good hit left him momentarily dazed. When he regained his senses only a second or two later, he was lying on his back with the Lady of the Frost on top of him and one of her blades at his throat. Several in the crowd began to chant "Kill! Kill! Kill!" but instead she chose to just take the victory for the round.

It only became apparent afterwards, when she tried to get up, that she'd impaled one of her legs on two of his armor spikes in the process of forcing him down; she had to remove it very carefully, and was bleeding severely from the two stab wounds afterwards. With it hastily bandaged up, she was ready to face the second round. The injury didn't do her well, though, especially given how much she relied on speed and mobility. She did manage to stun the Porcupine again, but was too slow in closing in this time, and to add insult and more injury to injury, he specifically swung low into her legs, all but instantly bringing the fight to an end. However, she had gotten a hit in as she fell, causing the Porcupine to temporarily back off, forfeiting the killing blow. So the match would go into its final round.

The wait between the second and third match was cruelly long, as two Agori medics frantically worked on getting the Glatorian back on her mangled feet. I swear, even over the strong emotions, mostly joy and some kind of primal bloodlust, of the crowd, I could sense in credible pain and agony coming down from that field; how she kept from screaming I'll never know. Yet somehow, she was standing again fifteen minutes later. But anyone in that arena could already see the writing on the wall: this wasn't going to be a fight; it was going to be a slaughter. After the bell sounded the start of the fight, the porcupine toyed with his morning star, twirling it around in his hands as though it weighed nothing, and at one point even turning to the crowd and raising his hands as though he was asking them what he should do. They chanted "Kill! Kill! Kill!" again, but the Lady of the Frost wasn't keen on going down easy.

She made her way across the arena, using one of her blades as a cane to help steady herself, the other one at the ready. Her posture was slumped; blood loss by this point had left her barely conscious. Yet, when the Porcupine raised his weapon and swung it down over her, she instantly reacted, dodged, and rolled to the side, slashing into the thinly armored back of his leg in the process. The Porcupine… he saw his prey was still up for it, but that she wouldn't be for long; dark spots appeared on her bandaged shins and rapidly grew larger. She was bleeding again. So what did the bastard do? He backed off, stood there, and waited. I don't remember how long it was, but it felt like ages. She stood there, unable to really walk, weakened but still defiant. She even shouted at him. I couldn't hear her over the chanting crowd, but I swear she was taunting him, throwing the worst imaginable insults at him, and he deserved each and every one.

Slowly, her head began to sink, her arms dropped… she fell on her knees, but still did what she could to hold at least one blade ready as the life drained out of her. Believing her sufficiently incapacitated, the Porcupine now moved in, carrying his morning star like an executioner's axe. The crowd's chant had turned into a deafening roar; when he raised the weapon over his head, I turned. The ice Glatorian was all but lying on the ground, her strength having drained out of her almost completely; I couldn't bear to watch. Turns out, I didn't have to, because when the full force of that weapon came down on her head, the crunching sound was broadcast through the entire arena, followed by a triumphant announcement of "PORCUPINE WINS!" The crowd cheered. The announcer informed them that, with his great victories, the porcupine would be moving up to the top tier arena rankings. I felt sick.

I asked Kopaka if he could tell me when they'd cleared the field before I dared look down there again. He'd watched the whole event without displaying any emotions of any kind, positive or negative. In fact, when I tried to focus in on him to try and detect any, I couldn't find a thing. Had he actually been watching? It wasn't long before the announcement came over the speakers:

"And now… the match that everyone has been waiting for!" Kopaka tapped my shoulder to indicate the field was clear, and it wasn't… really. It was as clear as it was going to get, apparently, but there still was a very large dark stain where the young Glatorian had fallen, along with bits and scraps of armor strewn around. I guess that was too hard for them to get that out. The announcer continued: "And entering the arena now, the current champion! The one who brings the heat just by walking in! You've all seen him, you all know what he's got, it's TAHU, THE MASTER OF FIRE!"

A blast of flame erupted from one of the entrances to the arena floor below. It lasted for a second or two, and when it vanished, Tahu entered the arena with fire erupting from his swords, walking determinedly across the open space until he reached the center. There, he raised his swords over his head, crossed them, then brought them down and swung them around him, sending a heat wave in all directions that we could feel even in the back row. The crowd went wild; Tahu now assumed a ready stance, looking in the direction from which his opponent would appear. I looked to Kopaka; again, not a hint of any emotion or feeling was coming from him, even at the sight of his brother.

"And his challenger for tonight," the announcer continued, "you've all seen him before, fighting his way up out of prison with the fastest climb through the arena ranks that anyone as ever seen! Beware the Skrall elite, the Special Forces, the Ultimate War Machine! It's STRONIUS, LORD OF THE SKRALL!

His appearance was heralded by a blast of thick, acrid smoke from the entrance opposite to the one Tahu had appeared from. It lasted a while, but when it cleared, it revealed a warrior who frighteningly reminded me of The Porcupine, except in black and red with a monstrous spiked club for a weapon. The jagged, spiked armor, the way he held himself, they were almost identical, and just like his Skakdi counterpart, he twirled that massive weapon around him like it was a mere toy, much to the crowd's amusement. He slammed it into the ground twice, leaving small craters to taunt his opponent. Tahu responded by swinging his blades around, lighting up the edges, and then planting them in the ground, sending streaks of fire through it which erupted next to Stronius and all over the area between them.

"Well, it looks like these two are more than ready for the FIGHT OF THE CENTURY!" The announcer really didn't have to do anything to get this crowd riled up even more, but yeah… that's what he was doing. "Well, how's about we LET THEM HAVE IT!?" At this point, just the noise and emotional volume of the crowd were becoming exhausting for me, but this I had to see. Both fighters assumed ready positions about ten meters apart. The Announcer counted down: "And they'll proceed to pummel each other in Three, TWO, ONE…" a small pause for effect…

"… AND FIGHT!"


	7. Chapter 7

At the sound of a deafening horn, the fighters charged towards each other. Stronius' club was over his head; he brought it down but Tahu side-stepped and dodged the swing, after which he spun around and slashed with both his swords into the elite Skrall's side. His armor prevented much of it from having an effect, though, and Tahu had to back up fast in order to avoid the backswing of the club. Now they stood only a meter or two apart, both with weapons at the ready, circling each other and looking for a weak spot. Tahu was faster; he moved in and parried the club out of the way with one of his blades while moving in to stab with the other. Stronius leant into the attack, however, causing Tahu's sword to glance harmlessly off of his large, rocky pauldrons. He quickly followed that by swinging his club upwards, nailing an uppercut right on Tahu's chest, causing the Toa of Fire to stagger backwards. Confident that his foe was momentarily dazed, the Skrall moved in and swung again, but Tahu fell backwards on purpose, rolled out of the way, and was on his feet again less than a second later.

So they were facing off again, but this time Tahu increased the distance; his swords began to glow red-hot, and he planted them in the ground again, sending fire in Stronius' direction that erupted all around the Skrall before he could react. That did something; clearly Tahu stood a better chance at actually hurting Stronius with elemental attacks than by trying to pierce or slash into his ridiculous armor, and he could outrun Stronius all day, hurling fire at him as he went. But amazingly, he didn't do that. He moved in to strike with the swords again, leading to another quick exchange of blows that were equally blocked, parried, and dodged by both sides. That became the pattern: a quick melee bout followed by a short standoff between the two sides. Each time, they tried to attack from different angles, or with a move we hadn't yet seen, and occasionally they landed hits; Stronius' armor had numerous cuts and scrapes now, though few if any seemed to have had any effect on the tissue below, and one of Tahu's pauldrons, his chest plate, and his right thigh armor were seriously busted. But neither side gave anything to the other. Eventually, time ran down to where the first round was pronounced a draw, although that one round had featured more action than the rest of the evening so far combined, and the crowd's energy levels were through the roof.

While the fighters prepared for the second round and the announcer kept the crowd riled up, I turned to Kopaka:

"What did you think so far?"

"My brother has lost his edge," the Toa of Ice said dryly. "Stronius would not be standing now if he was on form."

"I think he fought well," I observed.

"You have not seen him fight before." That was true, but really, I thought Tahu had put up a sporting display, and at least this fight was a lot more evenly matched than most of what we'd seen so far.

The second round was almost a repeat of the first until the start of the last of the five minutes' duration of each round. Tahu moved in again, this time trying a quite spectacular set of moves: he charged Stronius, jumped in the air and corkscrewed over him, trying to land on the other side to slash into his more vulnerable back. Stronius wasn't going to let that happen, though: he jabbed upwards with his club, managing to hit Tahu's leg and spoiling the maneuver to where the Toa landed on his back instead of on his feet. Though he managed to dodge the club now coming down on top of him, he was in serious trouble: Stronius kept swinging like a maniac, not allowing the Toa any window to regain his footing. So instead, Tahu stabbed his blade into a vulnerable spot in the elite Skrall's armor right at the inside of his leg. Following that, he proceeded to set the blade alight, but Stronius took advantage of the delay by swinging his club down and nailing a massive hit on Tahu's shoulder, completely smashing the remnants of the pauldron and visibly mangling the tissue below. Tahu was forced to roll back and try to get out of his opponent's striking range while the latter's leg was out of commission, which he did successfully.

Now the fighters stood and faced each other again, but Stronius' left leg was weakened, causing him to limp, and Tahu's left shoulder was messed up to where he couldn't raise the arm much or strike at anything with it to any effect. Unable to charge effectively, Stronius endured the intermittent fireballs that Tahu threw at him by blocking them with his club until the fire warrior tried once again to move in. He followed closely behind one of the fireballs to try and take advantage of the elite Skrall being in a blocking as opposed to a striking position; with his club interposed between him and Tahu to block incoming fire, Stronius wouldn't be able to see Tahu coming. But he guessed Tahu's plan correctly, and after the fireball hit, he simply shoved the club forward. It wasn't a very powerful or damaging hit by any means but like anyone else, Tahu quickly found that getting a spiky club shoved into your face is a disorientating experience. While he was dazed, Stronius managed to get another, more powerful hit in just as the bell sounded the end of round 2.

Because of the damage he dished out, though, he was awarded the win for the round. Tahu now had to either win the next round convincingly enough to be awarded a point or win by outright knockout to stay in the fight. The announcer worked up the tension with rhetorical questions like "Is this the end of Tahu!?" I was scared that he would lose; we'd already seen a loss could mean death, and this crowd was bloodthirsty to say the least. Kopaka didn't seem the least bit concerned from what I could read.

"You know," I told him, "this could mean the end of him, right?"

"It could be." Yup. No concern whatsoever. I knew he liked to be detached and all that, but this was his own brother; did he really feel nothing or just show nothing? Over the mental noise of the crowd, I honestly couldn't tell.

I was on the edge of my seat when the fighters stepped forward again for the third round. Tahu'd gotten a hold of a new pauldron and braced his arm, but it was still weak and he looked battered overall. Stronius appeared to have bandaged his leg, and his armor looked worn but the brute inside was otherwise fine. I'm not usually faithful, but I honestly prayed to Mata Nui that Tahu would come out on top. If he didn't… that was it.

The final round began. Stronius, confident that he could finish the fight faster with fewer injuries to contend with, went on the offensive straight away, charging Tahu and bringing the club down on him again. Tahu in part dodged and in part parried the strike, after which he struck back, but the elite Skrall's helmet easily deflected the hit. That set the tone for the round early on; Stronius had the initiative, but Tahu's defenses were up so he didn't really get anywhere. Tahu also threw in fire attacks here and there when he could. After two minutes, Stronius was beginning to show exhaustion; swinging that heavy club about really took everything he had by this point, and he was forced to back off. Now Tahu went on the offensive, though more cautiously than he had before, and like Stronius he accomplished little with it. More cuts, more scrapes, but nothing that would earn either fighter points or contribute to a knockout.

Then Tahu ramped it up. With two minutes left, he began making more daring strikes, increasingly rendering himself vulnerable in an effort to land more powerful blows with swords that now glowed red-hot. Still recovering, Stronius didn't really have an answer other than to keep backing off; Tahu slashed right, then left, then brought his swords over in a kind of cross-chop… I wouldn't say it was graceful; the Lady of the Frost had done basically the same thing in a much smoother, effortless fashion, but the way Tahu chained his attacks together was nonetheless very impressive and emphasized the power the Toa of Fire still possessed. By this point it was evening and therefore dark apart from the gloomy arena lighting, which made the resulting light show all more spectacular. Those bright red glowing swords and the shower of sparks created every time they clashed against Stronius' armor were spectacular to behold, and Tahu's assault was relentless. It was do or die, and the crowd loved it.

But Stronius wasn't going to let that go on forever, and when Tahu began to falter with a minute left, he struck back, swinging the club in front of him with as much if not more energy than he'd done at the start of the match. Now it was Tahu's turn to back up, and he did so quickly, dodging left and right while he tried to recover some energy. The fighters had almost made it back to the center of the arena where they started. Then Stronius made a mistake: with maybe ten seconds to go on the clock, he went all out and dove forward more while swinging the club down over his head two-handedly. This was the moment that Tahu had been waiting for. He ducked low and to the left, dodging the club again, then rolled right to get underneath Stronius. But Stronius had either been expecting it or he had quicker reactions that I thought, because he brought his foot down on Tahu's chest, pinning him to the ground, then began to raise his club again. But the Toa of Fire had a plan too: while he was pinned to the ground, he could stab upwards with both of his swords, nailing Stronius on the inside of both his legs; the same vulnerable joint he'd hit on just the left leg the last time. And this time, he'd ignited the swords beforehand.

The whole crowd, myself included, was astounded by what happened next; with maybe four seconds left in the match, and Stronius about to bring the club down on his head, Tahu surged his fire powers through his swords, sending searing jets of flame upwards and into the elite Skrall's body and armor. I can only describe the result as a furnace: white-hot flames burst out of every crack and split in Stronius' armor: under the shoulders, by the elbows, from holes in the chest and abdomen, from his neck and, most frighteningly, out the eye holes of his helmet. A nightmarish scream erupted as the Skrall's body was roasted, burned, then utterly carbonized inside his steel shell. That club never came down. The bell sounded, and Tahu managed to get out from under the foot of the Skrall, who seemed to be standing frozen in position, the club still raised over his head, dark smoke rising from inside his armor.

Tahu stood in front of him, seemingly sizing him up for a bit, challenging him, then stepped back and kicked the chest plate. Stronius fell backwards and when he hit the ground… he fell apart. I'm not kidding… I still shudder to think of it. He'd been dead by the time the bell rang, nothing but a carbonized statue inside of blackened armor, barely standing. The impact against the ground broke what remained, leaving the Lord of the Skrall literally in pieces. Tahu raised his swords in the air and ignited them again; his signature victory pose. To say the crowd went wild was an understatement; I was surprised my hearing survived.

"AND THAT IS THE POWER OF A TOA OF FIRE!" the announcer had found his microphone again. "TAHU WINS!"

Looking over, I saw Kopaka getting up and preparing to leave.

"Come," he said. "Let us go and see my… brother."

The cold, spiteful way in which he said 'brother' after that match… This was the first time that I'd seen Kopaka display a genuine sign of anger, even hate. This was not going to be a pretty reunion.


	8. Chapter 8

Up until this point, Kopaka had behaved, from my point of view, mostly like a calculator with legs; utterly rational, methodical, and precise in the way he went about things, black-and-white in how he saw the world. I found his mannerisms intriguing, in spite of how frustrating interacting with him was because of it; his logic wasn't the kind that was always easy to follow, and he wasn't usually keen on explaining. In tracing down Tahu after the end of this fight, though, there was something new mixed in; a determination, a drive that up until this point had been lacking; Kopaka now behaved like a man on a mission as opposed to a taciturn stranger.

He made his way around the upper rim of the Arena Magna; the crowd was watching Tahu receiving some kind of award for winning the fight, so he didn't have to fear being spotted. I followed him quickly. He stopped when he reached a point above the tunnel through which Tahu had entered the arena. The announcer was just informing the crowd that, next week, the 'Master of Fire' would face up against the newcomer in the top ranks; The Porcupine. I shuddered. Kopaka didn't wait around; in fact, I was shocked to see him rising slowly into the air. I'd never seen something like that; he just… slowly floated upwards without moving a muscle, and he continued to rise until he reached the top of the outside wall of the stands, where he stepped forwards and out of sight. Where was he going?

To follow, I had to exercise one of my lesser-used abilities: telekinesis. In this case, I tried to use it on myself to fly like Kopaka had, however he pulled that off. It was a difficult process; I couldn't easily keep focused on myself all that well, and I almost fell backwards into the crowd. Luckily, I managed to get a hold of the top of the outer wall and could clamber up from there. The wall was a few meters thick, and once I reached the other side, I looked down to find that Kopaka was gently floating down towards the ground. I muttered something along the lines of "oh great…" to myself, then attempted to follow using telekinesis again. I held fine at first, pulling myself up just hard enough to float downwards at a manageable pace, but it was hard to keep my balance. Kopaka had just landed on the field below when a gust of wind knocked me off balance completely, breaking my concentration; I now found myself tumbling towards the ground, desperately trying to get that lock again… but to no avail. For a moment, I thought that was it. I'd been killed by falling while chasing after a mad old Toa who just wanted to be left alone.

Except… all of the sudden I slowed down. Something was pushing against me falling, the same sensation as when I used telekinesis on myself, except… more controlled. It didn't just stop me splattering on the ground; it also reoriented me so I was standing up, and then gently set me down. I turned and looked around, trying to decipher what had just happened. There was no one around me except Kopaka, who'd already turned and was making his way across the field that surrounded the arena.

"Wait!" I called after him. "Was that you!?"

"Yes. Me and a Miru Nuva."

"Whoa… you just saved me there!" Up until that point, I'd assumed Kopaka didn't care about me at all, and that he'd just let me follow him around so I could satisfy my curiosity so long as it didn't bother him. But if it'd been like that, he'd have had no reason to save me there… or I had him figured out all wrong. Did he actually care to some degree, or was I just useful to him for the time being? "Thanks. I mean really, thank you for that."

"Do not mention it. Or at least do not shout it next time. Noise does not help us."

"Oh, right…" and just like that, Kopaka dismissed what had happened. His mind had already moved on.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked after I'd caught up.

"Hide."

"Hide from what?"

"The group that will come out of there soon." Kopaka pointed at a closed set of tall, wooden doors in the side of the Arena Magna that we'd landed just in front of. A straight path led from them to a locked gate in the fence that closed off the area around the arena. "Here." Kopaka got behind a large set of ornamentally trimmed bushes and knelt down to stay out of view. I took a spot next to him. He seemed to be staring intently at the bushes in front of us.

"So, what is that?" I gestured in the direction of the doors.

"That is where the tunnel by which Tahu will leave the arena leads," Kopaka explained. "There is a staging area in between, but sooner or later Tahu will appear there. Then we will follow him to where he lives so I can meet with him privately."

"We're going to have to be sneaky?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Good. I've got just the mask for it." I smiled.

"Keep it down. Tahu has yet to appear, and now we really do not want to be seen. It is forbidden to even be here."

"Right. So… we wait." And wait we did. The post-fight ceremony lasted for maybe fifteen minutes, judging by the noise, but we had been waiting for nearly an hour by the time the doors opened, time during which I'd grown increasingly worried that we'd be spotted. I'd kept my Volitak on as much as I could while the crowds of Matoran and Agori coming out of the arena on the other side dispersed throughout the city. Since the area we were in wasn't lit, Kopaka trusted his dark cloak to fade in with the scenery, which it apparently did well enough. No one spotted him, but then I'd like to think that no one was looking for us.

Tahu appeared, surrounded by four smaller figures; either Ta-Matoran or Fire Agori; it was hard to tell, since they wore the official gear of the city guard, carrying round shields and small thornax launchers. Apparently, Tahu needed a guard when traveling around the city for some reason. They escorted him down the path and through the gate. We followed, keeping to the shadows as much as we could. Kopaka used his Miru Nuva to get over the fence. I climbed over it. By now, the streets had largely cleared; everyone'd gone home for the night, and therefore we had to keep our distance while following Tahu and the guards to avoid being spotted. Luckily, Kopaka could track them with his Akaku even when they disappeared around corners. The party made their way into one of the wealthier parts of the city, where many of the more influential Agori and Matoran lived, and stopped in front of one particular house. Kopaka and I watched from behind a hedge across the street as Tahu dismissed the guard, who went their separate ways while he entered his home.

"Looks like our time to act, right?" I asked after the guards were out of sight. Kopaka got up and made his way across the street, me following close behind and keeping an eye out for anyone who might see us. The street was completely quiet, but lights were still on in some of the houses. I figured Kopaka had thought up some kind of sneaky way to get in without being seen, but no, he simply walked up and knocked on the door. It took a bit of time before Tahu opened it.

"Who are you and what do you want?" he asked curtly. If he was surprised to see Toa at his door, he didn't show it.

"We need to have a word," Kopaka answered.

"Don't you lot realize what time it is? Get lost!" Tahu tried to close the door, but Kopaka shoved his cane into the opening, preventing it from closing completely. So Tahu opened it again. "What, you looking for trouble?!" he asked with more than a hint of anger in his voice.

"No. I need to speak to you… brother." When he said 'brother,' Kopaka pulled back his hood enough to reveal his face to Tahu, whose eyes widened with stunned surprise at the sight.

"Kopaka?… You're alive?" he barely got it out, but then regained his composure. "Come in, come in." he stepped aside to let us in. Kopaka silently made his way past, and I followed suit. "And who are you, then?" Tahu asked me.

"I'm Lis…" I introduced myself. "I'm a friend."

"A friend?" Tahu asked incredulously. "Kopaka has a friend? Things really have changed, haven't they?" Kopaka didn't reply; he silently made his way into the living room instead.

Tahu's was a pretty decent size house, and the outside looked presentable enough in the dark, but I would have recommended he find a new decorator. The walls were covered top to bottom with all sorts of trophies from his arena fighting; shields, swords, helmets, other mangled pieces of armor… name any piece of combat equipment and he probably had several nailed to his wall. It looked busy, cluttered, and given the state of some of the trophies, like a garbage dump. The exception was a set of shelves on the wall opposite the door, where an impressive collection of victory cups and plaques was proudly displayed, though they had gathered a fair amount of dust. Other furnishings were few and far between, though; a chair or two and a couch were set up around a low table to form a living room, joined by a new consumer-model telescreen on a side table, and there was another chair loitering about the mess that was probably the kitchen. Most of the furniture looked old and worn, and the place generally gave the impression that taking care of his house was not a top item on Tahu's priority list.

There was also the faint odor of something burning… that was when I recognized a charred object sitting on the table: Stronius' helmet. It instantly called back the sight of the elite Skrall's death… those flames coming out of his…everything… I almost threw up, but tried not to look it. Kopaka'd taken a seat on the couch right behind the table, and for a moment, I swear, he looked more at home there than Tahu did; his old cloak and worn, decrepit appearance looked a lot more appropriate for someone living in a hole like this one than Tahu's battered but otherwise quite new and shiny equipment.

"So, would you like something to drink?" Tahu offered Kopaka.

"No."

"To eat, then?" I found the thought of eating anything made in that kitchen of his revolting; nothing there was anywhere near its original color due to food stains, and the pile of dirty dishes stacked in and around the sink was the largest I'd ever seen.

"No."

"Then what did you want to see me about?"

"As I said, we need to talk." I could sense some impatience from Kopaka; he had a point to get to, but for some reason he wasn't coming out and saying it the way he usually did.

"Okay then, let's talk," Tahu said as he took a chair opposite of the couch. "Where've you been the last eight thousand years?"

"The Ko-Wahi mountains."

"Well, that's no surprise. Looks like you've taken a few knocks up there, though. Bad leg?" Tahu gestured at the Toa of Ice's cane.

"An injury, yes. Looks like I am not alone, though."

Tahu looked puzzled for a moment, then Kopaka nodded to his braced left arm and bound-up shoulder. "Oh, that…" the Toa of Fire said. "Arena fight went a little rough."

"I know," Kopaka said. "I was there."


	9. Chapter 9

"You were there?" Tahu was stunned. Did I detect a hint of… fear?

"We were up there in the stands," I explained. "Saw the whole thing."

"…and somehow I seem to remember that you made a very specific promise some time ago," Kopaka added.

Tahu sighed. "You're talking about how it ended, I presume." Kopaka merely nodded 'yes'. "Well, if I could've avoided it, I would've done everything I could to do so," the Toa of Fire said dryly.

"So you killed him," Kopaka asserted.

"Yes, because it was him or me," Tahu explained; there was now more than a hint of anger in his voice. "I didn't have a choice."

"Oh, but you did," Kopaka countered. "The Tahu I knew would not have let that fight go to its third round. You could have ended it much sooner and without the need to kill."

"You have no idea how those fights work, do you?" Tahu stood up, displeased at the accusation. "The point isn't to win fast, the point is to put on a show! That's what I get paid for, not to kill! Yes, I let him get some hits in to make it look like a challenge, but I misjudged it, okay!? By the end of this one, my life really was on the line, so I didn't have a choice."

"Your life was on line for that entire fight," Kopaka said calmly, "but you thought that you could take him easily and as such could let him 'get a few hits in.' Your overconfidence is showing, brother, and it will only lead to more tragedies like this one." He pointed at the burned helmet.

"My life is on the line every time I enter that arena!" Tahu argued. "I win, I live. I lose, I die. And you know what? I accept that! So what if I die in there? At least I'll die fighting, which is more than I can say for some of us!"

"At one point, you yourself would have been horrified to hear that coming from a Toa." Anger was stirring in Kopaka as well; I could feel it.

"Well, at least I haven't lost my edge!" Wild gestures accompanied Tahu's arguments. "Like it or not, I'm still going strong while the rest of you have fallen! Besides, are you really going to argue that the world would be better off with this guy still around?" he gestured to the helmet. "He was a thug; the kind of thing we used to fight to protect the Matoran. I'm still doing that! I'm the only one of us still doing it!"

"Yes, you need that, do you not?" Kopaka grabbed hold of his cane. "You need that thrill, that fight, that satisfaction of conquering something in the name of good, and I was fine with you having it..." He got up as well; now the two Toa faced each other across the table. "But what I cannot accept," he continued in a much more threatening tone, "is a Toa, especially my brother, killing people for others' entertainment! That does not protect anyone! You have abandoned everything that being a Toa once stood for!"

"WELL, WE'RE NOT TOA ANYMORE!" Tahu shouted. "This world doesn't need Toa, and you're just too stubborn to see that! You're clinging to an old fantasy, brother!"

"YOU ROASTED HIM ALIVE!" Kopaka shot back, pointing again at the helmet on the table between them. "We fought tyrants who did that! Remember the reign of shadows!?"

"How rich of you to remind me of that! You come here complaining of what I do, you compare me to monsters, and look at yourself! You vanished after we split! You complain that I abandoned what being a Toa once meant, while you've abandoned everything!"

"I WAS DOING MY DUTY!" now Kopaka was furious… didn't need to be a mind reader to tell that. He really did take that duty seriously. I could feel the temperature in the room dropping.

"Your duty is to wander around the mountains while everyone who once cared for you thinks you're dead!? How convenient for you: it's what you always wanted: to be left alone!" By now, sparks and small bursts of flame accompanied Tahu's gestures. I took a few steps back… both Toa seemed to be losing control and I did not want to be caught in the middle of it.

"Then what of your other brothers!?" I was surprised to see Kopaka bring that up. "What will they say when they see what you have become!?"

"Other brothers?" Tahu was taken aback as well, but then anger took over again: "Guess you really have been gone for too long! Newsflash, 'brother': Onua and Lewa are dead, and Pohatu's been gone for ages! Not like they're gonna see anything or complain about it! And if you're uncomfortable calling yourself my brother because of what I do, then you can go find Gali and commiserate with her!"

"Then what you said really must be true," Kopaka said coldly. "Fire as no brothers. Fire consumes all." Something about that statement… it hit Tahu hard. It wasn't just a biting remark; when Tahu heard it, that anger in him spiked. Meanwhile, Kopaka seemed to calm down again; he took a certain pleasure in it; making Tahu's temper flare white-hot.

"DON'T SAY THAT TO ME!" Tahu shouted as a bolt of fire burst from his hands and flew towards Kopaka. I ducked for cover. Kopaka reacted instantly, forming an ice shield in front of himself. With a tremendous hissing sound, the collision of the elements produced a thick vapor cloud that almost instantly filled the room. For a few seconds, no one could see anything. When the vapor began to clear, I could see the two old Toa still standing in the same positions, but with weapons now at the ready, facing each other across the table. I'd had enough.

"Stop it, both of you!" I stepped in between them with my arms outstretched. "We're not going to accomplish anything by blowing up the house, okay?" Both of them looked surprised for a second, but then they came to the realization that this was neither the time nor the place for a sword-fight. Warily, they put away their weapons.

"Please…" I turned to Kopaka. "We're here to ask him a question, right? Not to re-ignite pointless arguments."

"Recent events made the argument relevant," Kopaka said, "but you are correct in that we are not accomplishing anything by it."

"Well," Tahu said, "I do think it's pointless, I don't have anything else to say on the matter. If you want to ask this question so badly, do so. If not, get out of my house."

"Fine." Kopaka said. "Where is Gali?"

"You expect me to know where she is?" Tahu asked incredulously. "You think I kept up with her after how we ended?"

"Yes, I think you did."

"That's crazy. Sorry, but no, I have no idea." I could sense Tahu was lying, and I was about to tell Kopaka as much when the Toa of Ice himself beat me to it.

"No, you do know," he asserted. "First off, you know she is alive, because you told me to 'go commiserate with her.' Secondly, there is no way in which one could spend as much time in the arena as you have without accumulating several grievous injuries. I can think of only one person who you would trust to fix you up properly."

"There's hospitals," Tahu countered, "and they do a fine job."

"Well then perhaps I like to think that there is just a little bit of that old Tahu left," Kopaka continued. "The Tahu who cared for his fellow Toa and who, regardless of the circumstances, would do his best to make sure they were okay."

Tahu thought for a few seconds, then sighed: "Fine. She's staying with Hahli. Has been for years." Without another word, Kopaka turned and headed for the door.

"Hang on!" I interrupted. "Where do we find this… Hahli, then?"

"She's got a house downtown," Tahu explained. "Head south a few blocks past the station, then east. It's right on the coast." Kopaka was making his way out the door by this point. "Be warned, though:" Tahu called after him. "You won't like it when you find her." Kopaka didn't reply. When I turned to follow him, Tahu tapped me on the shoulder. "Lis?"

"What?"

"Look, I know I kinda lost it there… he is infuriating to deal with sometimes." Okay, true, and I could sense a degree of regret on his mind, but I still wasn't inclined to feel sorry for him.

"That's the first time you see him in eight thousand years," I pointed out, "and this is how it goes?"

"I know," Tahu said, "and I don't expect you to understand what I do and why… but I fought alongside him. A lot. He's even saved my life a few times, so… I know he won't ask for it, but if he needs anything, call me. I want to make sure he'll at least be okay."

"Fine. I will." I turned to leave, then realized something. "I guess he was right," I said to Tahu before stepping out. "There is something of that old Tahu left after all." For a moment, there was a meek smile on the Toa of Fire's face. I stepped out into the front yard. Kopaka was making his way down the street already.

"One last thing," Tahu called after me. I turned and waited for him to continue. "I don't know how you found him or why you're still with him, but it's a good thing that you are. And he cares too. He won't admit it to you or me, or even to himself, but he cares a great deal about us, about the Toa Nuva, and even he needs help sometimes. When he finds Gali, or Mata Nui forbid, Pohatu, he will need help… be there for him, please."

"Thanks. I will."

"Have a good night, Lis." I nodded and turned to run and catch Kopaka. I caught up quickly.

"What was that in there?" I demanded.

"An argument."

"You nearly blew up his house! I agree what he did was horrible, but really, he's your brother. You two couldn't even pretend to keep it civil!"

Kopaka waited a moment before replying. "My brother's failings are his own," he said calmly, "so I could not stop him, but it was necessary to try to preserve the name of the Toa."

"And you still failed, so you're angry."

"No. He will stop fighting in the arena soon."

"Why?" Did he really think he was that convincing?

"He is getting older like the rest of us; it will not be long before he gets killed in there." He clearly had no doubt about it either…

"And you're okay with that?"

Kopaka grunted but didn't reply. I tried to read into his mind again, to figure out what was going through his head that made it okay just to leave his brother when he thought said brother would die soon. I got anger, a bit of sadness, both of which were to be expected… but also concern. Tahu was right: somewhere down there Kopaka did care, but… he was forcing it down, trying to look like he didn't mind that which he acknowledged he could do nothing about. But he did mind, and I began to fear that it was going to keep eating away at him.

It would be but one of many such things.


	10. Chapter 10

With midnight fast approaching, we made our way along the streets leading south, back in the direction of the Arena Magna.

"So, are we heading to Hahli's place, then?" I asked.

"Eventually."

"What do you mean, 'eventually?' Why not immediately?"

"I am tired, and it would be rude to show up at her door now."

"Didn't seem to bother you with Tahu."

"… Tahu is different. I had… a bone to pick with him. And I was not tired yet."

"Fair enough…" I could imagine an argument like that took a lot out of him, given his age… but the fact that he paused before answering meant something. Also, I could sense anxiety in him, which was new. He'd been completely confident and self-assured for this entire trip, but now that he was so close, I felt he was… becoming hesitant. As with everything else, of course, he wouldn't let it show on the outside, but from what I saw now, it seemed that there was something about meeting Gali that was more daunting for him than anything we'd faced on this trip so far… What was it? I wasn't going to get it from him here, not when we were both exhausted, but when we did find Gali, I'd be paying very close attention.

"Where are we going now, then?" I noticed we'd turned east.

"A quiet place."

"Another park? I've had enough of park benches for today."

"No. A place more private. A place to contemplate."

"Ah, contemplation. Your favorite pastime." Kopaka didn't pick up on my dry attempt at humor… Was I really expecting him to? Well, he wasn't the only one who was tired. Whatever this quiet, contemplative place was, I really hoped there'd be a good spot to lie down and catch some shuteye…

Turns out it was the beach.

Unsurprisingly, it was empty. The road we'd followed had lead us past ever more elaborate houses, and this clearly was the part of the beach where the wealthy could come to relax, if they wished. It was a wide, shallow cove, hemmed in by a seawall behind, rocky shores that grew into cliffs to the north, and more rocks to the south. I could see the silhouettes of Ga-Matoran and Water Agori huts situated beyond the rocks in that direction; many were raised on posts to protect them from the tide, and further still docks jutted far out onto the sea, with ships of various sizes moored to them.

Kopaka made his way to the north side of the beach and found himself a decently sized boulder to sit on. He sat there, looking out over the sea… his was mind sorting through Mata Nui only knows what. Something calming about the ocean, I suppose, though from the way he was adjusting his scopes, I could swear he was looking at something on the water, something well beyond my limited night vision. I could have tried to read into him more, but I was practically falling asleep standing up, so I found a nice spot of soft sand, lay down, and was out in moments.

A flash… I'm in a tunnel of some kind… is that a door opening? A dark voice thunders from all around…

"SO YOU FOUND YOUR WAY HERE, BROTHER…"

I tremble… there are others around me who do the same… another flash.

Now I'm outside. The light is blinding… something is coming towards me… something yellow… it lets out a blood-curdling screech... it's some kind of monster! Suddenly, I see another one next to me, and a third. Their eyes glow red. They have these… these weird forked staffs that they keep trying to stab me with. I try to hold my own… another flash.

Something I recognize! Skrall! Hundreds of them… but they look different than I remember. I look around and see Tahu standing next to me… he looks younger than before, not as damaged, and he's… shouting orders about something. It's hard to hear him over the noise of battle commencing, as more Toa and Glatorian meet and fight the Skrall… flash again.

Now I'm on a hill, overlooking the aftermath of some battle that happened below. The yellow creatures… there's hundreds of them, all dead. Some Glatorian and Agori are littered among them. I look up to see more fighting happening in the distance, and something… something is casting a giant shadow over the landscape. I turn too look, but suddenly my vision fills with red… I hear clashing swords, a sick, gurgling sound, then everything is black again. A voice calls to me from the distance… I can't distinguish what it's trying to tell me. Flash again…

Suddenly, I was wide awake. My heart was pounding, I was breathing heavily, and I was drenched in sweat. What kind of nightmare was that? I looked around, trying to get my bearings again. I was still on the beach… the sky was starting to lighten over the ocean to the east; sunrise would come soon. I noticed Kopaka was still sitting on that boulder, but slumped over. I made my way over to him. He was asleep, shut down in that position. Looking around, I could see that the beach was still empty apart from us. Then, I spotted something on the ocean horizon; some kind of island. It was too far out for me to make out anything but a silhouette in the dim light.

"You see it?" I was shocked to find Kopaka was now awake.

"S-see what?"

Kopaka pointed out over the water. "The fingers."

"What fingers?"

"That is where the Makuta fell," he explained. "Those islands were his fingers."

"Oh… The battle! The Makuta fell in the ocean! I remember that!" I looked again, trying to distinguish these 'fingers' in more detail, but it'd have to wait until after sunrise. There just wasn't enough light there. I turned back to Kopaka. "Were you there?"

"I was." Suddenly, what had happened clicked for me.

"Were you thinking about that, about what happened then?" I asked him.

"Yes."

"Oh… were there yellow monsters with red, glowing eyes?"

"Rahkshi of heat vision."

"So it was…" knowing didn't really make me feel better. "I… I think that I might have picked up on some of that…"

"While you were asleep?" He sounded… surprised, perhaps even a little indignant about it, and rightfully so.

"Yes…" I felt embarrassed. I'll admit I wasn't the best at controlling my abilities at the time, but now Kopaka had seen it happen twice... and I could tell he disapproved. Accidentally picking up on things like that, reading minds while asleep… it showed that lack of control, that inexperience. I felt like an Agori child who'd just wet their bed. "Sorry…"

"It is fine. You will learn. You wanted to see it anyway, did you not?" Even though he said it was fine, the tone of his voice said it wasn't. Not keen on elaborating further, he got up, pulled up his hood, and started for the stairs up the seawall that marked the end of the beach and the start of the city. I followed behind, but my mind wasn't fully in the present; I was still trying to piece together the fragments of that memory, of that dream, especially the end. Whose voice was that, shouting at the end? And what were they trying to get across?

As we headed south along the road parallel to the beach, I started to pay more attention to the city waking up around us; on various piers I could see Ga-Matoran and Water Agori preparing their vessels for a day of fishing at sea, and a few seaside shops and restaurants were just opening up. Kopaka didn't seem to be paying as close attention to what was around us as he usually did; he was pondering something. He actually stopped once to look around and get a better idea of the layout of the beach and everything on it, and his eyes fell on "Daila's Dermis Shack," a picturesque little place with a covered terrace over the beach. Apparently, it was time for breakfast, which I greatly welcomed.

A stocky water Agori who I could only assume was Daila was making preparations for the day inside the kitchen hut. We approached the hut's front counter and proceeded to inspect a large board that showed the breakfast menu. It wasn't long before Daila took notice.

"Well, you folks are up early," she remarked as she approached the counter with a smile. "And Toa, nonetheless. What can I get you two?" Kopaka pointed at the third item on the menu; dermis soup. "Dermis soup, eh? Any side with it?" The Toa of Ice pointed at 'pokawi strips' listed under 'sides' on the board. "So, dermis soup and pokawi…" Daila noted, "and for you, ma'm?"

"What's the three-gafna dish?" I inquired.

"Three types of gafna cubes on a seaweed bed," Daila explained. "You can choose the types if you prefer."

"Sounds nice, I'll take it. You pick the types."

"Will do," Daila noted. "Any side with that?"

"Pokawi strips sound nice."

"Three-Gafna and pokawi it is, then." Daila concluded. "Two tickets or together?" Kopaka held up two fingers, answering that question. By this point, I was starting to find his silent of way of dealing with Matoran and Agori quite amusing to watch; he could get so much across with just a gesture or two, while they were left wondering who this weird figure was. "Separate tickets…" Diala noted down, "okay! Should be out in a few minutes!"

Kopaka made his way onto the terrace, found the one table that was Toa-sized, and took the seat facing east, overlooking the sea. I took the chair facing south, giving me a prime view of the shoreline, but that wasn't what I was really interested in. No, I could sense that hint of anxiety in Kopaka again, coupled with that sense that he was mulling over something; for some reason he really wasn't looking forward to this meeting. Looking around, I couldn't find anyone within earshot of us, and judging by the sounds coming from the kitchen, Daila would keep herself busy, so I decided to try and get the reason out of him.

"So, you finally get to see Gali again," I began. No reply. Hm… "Excited?"

"You would know if I was." Okay, fair point.

"So you're not." Again, no reply. It seemed that I wouldn't get anywhere with the indirect approach, though given that this was Kopaka that really shouldn't have surprised me. "Mind if I ask why? Your entire reason for coming down here was to meet her again, to get her to fix that busted leg, right?"

"Yes."

"So, you could be better by tonight. Isn't that exciting?"

"I suppose." The Toa of Ice didn't do 'excited.' Not on the outside, at the very least, but I quickly got the impression that even inside there wasn't much in the way of joy left to repress; it might well have been the one emotion that Kopaka had been able to eliminate from his mind completely. That certainly would've explained his generally dour demeanor, come to think of it.

"I don't know… I think I'd feel a little happier knowing I was about to get better."

"So long as Gali still cares about duty," Kopaka said with a hint of spite in his voice.

"I think she will." I really did. From what I'd seen already, I didn't get the impression that Gali was the type to give up easily on something… then again, I would've been pretty furious at the other Toa if I'd been in her position during the split. I couldn't imagine it would've left anything but a bad mark on her, and she could still have been bitter about that. Was she really the type to let that override her concern for others, though? I concluded that she wasn't. "And believe me, if I know anything, it's how to read people." I regretted making that statement the moment it left my lips.

"Of course you do. You do it even when you do not intend to," Kopaka said critically. "Before you assert confidence in your powers, you should know to use them properly. Particularly yours."

"Yeah, I should…" I admitted. Suddenly I felt ashamed again. "I-I'm working on it."

"I am not talking about the lack of control," Kopaka continued, "I am talking about your frivolous use of it. You have been reading my mind at every spare moment since we met, have you not?"

"Kinda, yeah…"

"You should consider that some things are better left hidden. Your powers were given to you for the protection of Matoran and Agori, not to satisfy your curiosity. There is a reason your kind was made female rather than male." There was? That was the first I'd heard of it…

"Why is that?"

"Imagine your abilities in the hands of someone as temperamental as Tahu, or someone as careless as Lewa," Kopaka explained. "Fire, lightning, stone, air… they destroy bodies. You? Your powers can destroy minds; a far more dangerous thing. In its own way, psionics is the most powerful of the elements; the great beings therefore saw fit that the more gentle of the sexes should be given custody over it." Really? That's why Ce-Matoran were female? That wasn't written in our legends anywhere.

"Seems like a bit of a generalization to me." It did, quite uncomfortably so, in fact. Then again, it was probably true to a large extent, though no one seemed to know why… Really, Matoran and Toa gender was a strange thing. At least with the Agori there were… understandable reasons for why the sexes had their associated characteristics; not so with us.

"It was not one of their smarter decisions," Kopaka asserted, "but it is done with now. Point is, you have been given abilities whose use can have tremendous consequences for you and everyone around you, and whose use raises many questions. Use them wisely."

"I will." I was intent on taking his advice, but what defined 'using them wisely?' I'd spent a lot of time thinking about that… in fact, I still don't think I have all the answers.


	11. Chapter 11

It wasn't long before Daila showed up with our breakfast.

The gafna cubes were interesting; they were small, roasted pieces of gafna meat, colored and spiced according to the gafna type they came from. Turns out fire gafna is typically spicy, no surprise there, ice gafna are quite mild, and air gafna are… well, light. I wasn't much a fan of the seaweed, but the pokawi was a good choice. Kopaka offered no comments on his food, though the dermis soup looked tasty from my side of the table. Meal finished, he paid Daila in his usual silent, no-nonsense way, I did the same, and we were off, heading south along New Atero's shoreline.

Traffic was picking up already. Matoran and Agori were moving about, their day just beginning. Kopaka's pace was slower than usual; another indication that he wasn't really looking forward to what was coming. Were Tahu's warnings causing him to doubt? I wasn't sure, but in light of our breakfast conversation I didn't want to read into him deeper to find out. Instead, as we continued past one block after the other, I was beginning to wonder just where exactly Kopaka hoped to find Hahli's place.

"Tahu said 'a few blocks south of the station,' right? Any clue where we're at now?" I asked.

"Level with the station." Kopaka said dryly.

"So, it should be on the right here pretty soon…" I started looking that way, but how could one recognize the house of a Toa among those of Matoran? Was there some key difference to look for?

Turns out it was easy. In each street we passed, houses had been built together in rows, but Matoran and Agori had decorated them according to their own tastes. One that caught my eye, and certainly Kopaka's, was a larger house that looked like someone had just joined two neighboring ones together. Next to the door, four small stone tiles with carvings of various Kanohi masks were fixed to the wall.

"Recognize the masks?" I asked Kopaka as we stood in the street, looking at the place.

"Great Arthron, great Faxon, great Garai, noble Huna." Kopaka named them off one by one.

"Is Gali's one of those?"

"She had a noble Huna, but it is not her usual mask. Hahli is the only living Toa I know of that wears a Faxon, though." Kopaka stepped forward, making his way across the small front lawn to the door. He knocked and waited. No response.

"Try the doorbell," I suggested. He did. Still no response. "No one home?"

"It appears not."

"So now what?"

"Wait until they return." Kopaka turned and headed across the street, where a small terrace and fountain were nestled among the houses.

"That's it?" Sigh… I was not looking forward to another day spent waiting on what amounted to another park bench, but Kopaka took a seat facing the house and, surprise surprise, quickly entered his meditative state again. At least, I thought he did, but when I was about to take a seat, he turned to me:

"I can handle it from here. You can go"

"Handle what?"

"You came along because you wanted to make sure I got here, did you not?"

"Kind of…" What had caused me to follow him onto that train? Concern? Curiosity? A mix of both, I think.

"Well, I am here. All I need to do now is wait, which as you know is no issue for me; I will be here for hours, and I know you would rather be somewhere else during that time. So go." I was kind of surprised by that… I technically could have left at any time, but here he was specifically telling me to go. "Thank you, goodbye," he added.

I was amazed at the 'thank you,' but much as I was trying not to read into him too deeply in light of the morning's conversation, I couldn't help but still detect that anxiety in him, and I really wanted to figure out what that was all about. However, even with no plans to go anywhere else, I was pretty sure that I didn't want to spend my day on this terrace just waiting for someone who probably wouldn't show up until the late afternoon at the earliest, especially when the beach was literally yards away. But he still had to show me the final battle, and that wasn't going to happen here, because… public place.

"Look," I said to him, "you're right that I'd rather be elsewhere right now, but I don't want to just... leave. You still have to show me the final battle, for one."

"Not here, not now." Figured.

"Fine, but I'll be right out there on the beach," I gestured in the direction of the beach, "and I'll be back in a few hours. You still owe me that one."

"Fine. Go." So I did. With the city settled into its daily routine, the beach was anything but busy. I spent some time strolling further south, looking at the various shops and stands set up along the coastal road along the way. The main harbor of the city loomed in the distance. Eventually, I found myself sitting at the end of an empty pier, enjoying the peace and silence.

I was still thinking about what Kopaka had said about my powers in the morning… he was right that I used them a lot, probably more often than was warranted given that no Matoran were actually in danger, but… was it really doing any harm? I mean, being a Toa of Psionics naturally comes with an innate, always active ability to read surface thoughts and feelings, which was most of what I'd been doing, and I think people more or less expected that. I couldn't just turn it off, though come to think of it there were plenty of times when I'd wanted to. In a crowd, especially an excited one like the crowd at the arena fights, all the accumulated surface readings just become loud static, a jarring noise that's exhausting to have to deal with; just being in a crowded city was sometimes annoying. Try wearing a Suletu at some point, and you'll get a good idea of what it's like. That silence I was enjoying at the end of the pier? It was mental silence; being far enough away from anyone else that I couldn't hear them.

The silence was broken when I sensed someone approaching along the pier. I turned to see a Ga-Matoran standing there; she looked a little weathered and aged, but lively.

"Hi," she smiled.

"Uhm… hello."

"I'm Macku," she introduced herself with an outstretched hand. I shook it.

"Lis."

"Lis?" Macku thought for a moment. "Are you one of those new Toa from the south? The ones that fought the Skakdi?"

"Yes… yes, I am." I was a bit surprised this Matoran knew of me and my fellow Toa… we hadn't really done that much, had we? "Though, I wouldn't say we fought them, per se."

"Well, that was rumor," Macku acknowledged, "but whatever you guys did, it worked. Or was that rumor too?" she joked.

"No, the Skakdi stepped down…" I was still rather perplexed by what exactly her interest in me was. "Sorry, is there something you want?"

"No, not really. I just like meeting new Toa, and I hadn't seen you around before."

"Well, guess I fit that criterion."

"Toa always have interesting stories," Macku continued, "that and you looked like you could use someone to talk to."

I gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Yeah, I probably do… lots to think about."

"Figures," the Ga-Matoran smiled. "First time in the city? Trying to get away from the noise?"

"Yes and yes." Okay…

"Exhausting to listen to, isn't it?" She leant onto one of the bollards. "All the thoughts, the… what did they call it?... mental noise, I think." Wow… where'd this Ga-Matoran gotten the knowledge of that? Was she somehow a mind-reader too?

"Yes… how do you know?"

"Oh, a friend of mine used a Suletu for a while," Macku explained. "Said it was exhausting."

"Using a Suletu... was he a Toa as well?"

"Yeah, his name's Kongu. Like I said, I know quite a few Toa. He's got some stories too."

"You happen to know a Toa by the name of Hahli?"

"You kidding?" Macku laughed. "I live with her! Okay, she's gone most of the time for her job, but we're really close. I mean, I played on our village's kolhii team with her when she was still a Matoran!"

"Really?" Fancy that… Then I remembered one of the mask plates next to the door of Hahli's place had shown a noble Huna; Macku wore a noble Huna.

"Of course! Just out of curiosity, why'd you ask?"

"Oh…" how much to tell… "I have a friend who's looking for her, or rather for someone who is apparently living with her." That was suitably vague, I think.

"Is it me?" Macku feigned surprise.

"No… Actually, I should probably let him explain."

"Well, I've got time," Macku said. "Who's this friend of yours?"

"Uhm… I don't think he's too keen on me giving anything away. He's a bit paranoid." I didn't think of Kopaka as paranoid, but describing him in any more accurate way probably would have alerted this Toa-savvy Matoran to his true identity. "But I know where he is." I got up and started down the pier again, heading back to the terrace with Macku making conversation close behind.

"Correction. I know where he was." We'd reached the terrace; it was empty. Kopaka had simply vanished.

"He was right here, sitting across the street?" Macku asked, surprised. "Why didn't you guys knock?"

"We did, but no one answered," I said bitterly. What made Kopaka think it was okay just to leave like that? Where'd he gone?

"Ah… Hewkii was probably already out, then," Macku concluded. "Darn. Think your friend'll come back?"

"He'll have to."

"Well, in that case, why don't you come over?" Macku invited. "I was about to make lunch anyways. Maybe he'll show up soon."

"Yeah, okay, I guess…" my mind was a bit preoccupied. I'd told Kopaka I'd be back, and he'd told me he'd still be here, right? And he'd just left. I was right to feel betrayed, especially considering how much value Kopaka apparently placed on honesty and duty; didn't making a promise make fulfilling that promise part of one's duty? Screw it; next opportune moment, I was going to tell Macku.

I followed the excitable Ga-Matoran into the house, where I was somewhat surprised to find that everything, and I mean everything, was Toa-sized. All the chairs, tables, other furniture. Heck, Macku needed a step stool to comfortably prepare something on the Toa-height kitchen counters. Apparently lunch would consist of Ruki subs.

"So, you live here with Toa Hahli and Hewkii?" I asked.

"Yeah. Hewkii's a Toa too; we go way back." I could sense there was a bit more to her relationship with Hewkii than just 'old friends.' "Toa Jaller lives here too; he works with the police force now. Hewkii coaches the Po-Matoran Kolhii team and plays on the Toa Team with Jaller."

"And they were all part of the Toa Mahri?"

"Still are," Macku asserted. "Kongu and Nuparu occasionally drop by, and they all have a great time talking about all they've been through together. I like to listen along; we've all known each other since we were Matoran back on Mata Nui."

"Sounds great." They hadn't broken up. This fascinated me; unlike the Toa Nuva, the Toa Mahri never broke up. Why? What did they have that the Toa Nuva didn't?

There was another issue that I felt rather hesitant to mention: what about Gali? Wasn't she supposed to be here too? As we talked over lunch, I increasingly got the impression that Macku was holding something back, though certainly not for any malicious reason. Still, it almost had to be related to Gali; that or Tahu had been completely wrong about her actually being here. Didn't think so, though, because I sensed someone else in the building… or so I thought. It was extremely vague; a mere hint of a presence that could well have been that of someone passing by in the street except it was constantly here. I wanted to figure out more, but I couldn't focus on it while keeping up conversation with Macku.

The Ga-Matoran kept up a lively conversation all the way through, quite a change from my company of over the last two days. She apparently gave boat tours that led past various islands comprised of remnants of the Makuta robot, including the 'fingers' that Kopaka'd pointed out to me in the morning. She hoped to one day start diving expeditions into the old universe itself, though the scale of such an undertaking meant that she'd have to organize it with Hahli's help. Speaking of Hahli, I got to hear lots about how she and Macku had won the last great Kolhii tournament on Mata Nui, beating Jaller and Hewkii in the process.

"The only time I ever beat those guys in that game," Macku joked.

Whenever she talked about Hewkii, I could sense an emotional spike that I couldn't quite identify. Some kind of joy, but… more intense, and more focused on the other person. Macku felt that whenever she was with Hewkii, whenever she described him even. It felt great, yet so alien. I'd never sensed anything quite like it from a Matoran or Toa before. I'll say this, though: the language she used to describe him sounded a lot more like how an Agori or Glatorian couple would describe each other than what any Matoran would ever use…

"Would you like anything else to eat?" Macku asked when we'd finished our lunch.

"No thanks, I'm good." I wasn't much a fan of Ruki fish, but Macku had managed to make it taste pretty good.

"Well, unfortunately, I do have another boat tour to give this afternoon, so I can't stay and chat forever" the Ga-Matoran admitted as she collected the dishes, "but if you'd like to come along, I'd be happy to give you the ride."

"I'd like that, actually."

"Great!"


	12. Chapter 12

Macku's boat wasn't a particularly large one; besides me and her, there were three Agori, a Glatorian, and a party of four Matoran; with all of us on board the seats were quite filled. Macku, as it turned out, did not actually do much of the sailing; that honor fell to another old friend of hers from the days of Mata Nui: Pelagia. Pelagia was another Ga-Matoran, who before we set off explained that the boat we were on had been constructed using "traditional techniques" and she'd been sailing vessels like this one ever since she'd set up Mata Nui's first ferry line between Ga-Koro and Po-wahi. Our route for the afternoon would take us first to the Fingers, then south to the spot below which the giant robot's head was located, after which we'd sail west over the body to arrive at the only parts of the robot that were still above sea-level; its legs.

While we sailed east to the Fingers, Macku provided us all with some background information: created by the Great Beings, the giant robot was once controlled by the Great Spirit, Mata Nui, and the universe inside had been home to Toa, Matoran, Vortixx, Skakdi, and a whole host of other races. Unfortunately, among the inhabitants were the Makuta, who eventually moved to try and take over the place under the leadership of one Makuta Teridax. Teridax, through a series of plots, machinations, and a fiendishly complicated plan too long and intricate for me to detail here eventually managed to seize control of the robot and banished Mata Nui, who ended up on Bara Magna.

During his time on Bara Magna, Mata Nui came to realize it was his destiny to reform Spherus Magna in its entirety, and in order to do so, with help from the Agori and Glatorian, he collected parts of and re-assembled what had been a prototype giant robot left on Bara Magna. Teridax got wind of the activity and arrived just as Mata Nui was trying to pull the fragmented planets back together using the power of the prototype robot, and the event known as the "Battle for Bara Magna" ensued. Eventually, Mata Nui killed Teridax by causing a fragment of Aqua Magna to smash into the back of his head, and the giant robot had collapsed here, after which all its inhabitants had abandoned it.

And now it was a tourist destination. Go figure.

The Fingers were a pretty inhospitable looking set of three curved pillars that rose straight out of the sea, looming over our tiny ship and giving us a pretty good idea of just how tiny and insignificant we were in the grand scheme of things… Seriously, the top of each finger, now thoroughly colonized by plantlife and flying rahi, could have held a small city, and this was just part of one of this giant device's hands. After sailing a circle around the fingers, we set off southwards while Macku explained how everything below us, other than the giant robot, had in fact once been Aqua Magna, while Bota Magna was now located on almost the polar opposite side of the reformed planet.

The giant robot's head had to be the most spectacular thing we got to see, though. It was resting close enough to the ocean surface that, looking down into the relatively clear water, we could actually see it. At first, we didn't even realize it, since to the untrained eye the view below just looked like the regular, rough ocean floor, but once Macku started pointing out how various ridges, crests, and other features combined to make a part of the face, we got an appreciation for just how incredibly big this thing was… we spent close to an hour sailing in a crisscrossing pattern over the head just so we could get to see most of it. Really, it was staggering.

Most of the body was too deep down for us to see, but we could see the next major point in our tour from very far off: the giant robot's legs, which rose from the ocean to reach hundreds of miles inland. The knees were just about on the shoreline, so only the robot's shins and feet were actually on land, but just to give an idea of the scale: nothing had been built within fifty miles or so of the legs anywhere, due to the fact that the shadow they cast over the landscape made it hard to grow anything there.

With all of us thoroughly impressed by the sheer awe and magnitude of the giant robot even when it was lying mostly underwater, Pelagia set a course back to New Atero, sailing close enough to the shore that we could see the harbor and the rest of the city's beaches in great detail. Along the way, Macku explained how the remaining parts of the prototype robot had been scrapped and recycled to build the city, but the other one had been left as-is since most of it was underwater, making salvage all but impossible. She closed off with a short talk on how she was planning to someday be part of an expedition to venture back into the lost universe, to bring back footage and artifacts important to Matoran history.

After the boat was once again securely tied to the dock from which we'd set off, the other guests thanked the two Ga-Matoran and departed, though their conversation indicated the tour really had left an impression. Pelagia assured Macku that she'd make sure everything concerning the boat was taken care of, so she and I set off down the dock as well. By now, it was late evening.

"So, what'd ya think?" Macku asked.

"Very impressive… and to think that all Toa and Matoran lived in that thing at one point." I was still trying to get my head around that.

"Oh, it was beautiful," Macku remembered, "until Teridax took over, that is. He turned the place into a nightmare. By the time the final battle ended, we were jumping up and down to leave."

"And now you're trying to get back in," I smiled. "After the place has been dead and wrecked for thousands of years."

"Yeah, I'm not expecting to find much intact," Macku acknowledged, "but imagine if we could actually get video footage in there… to see what's left."

"And the whole thing's flooded now, right?"

"Near as we can tell. Apart from anything above water level, like the legs."

"Wow… You know, I think I'd like to be a part of that someday." I really did. I'd never seen the inside of that robot; in fact, until today I'd never actually seen the physical thing from the outside. To call it awe-inspiring didn't do it justice.

"You should talk to Hahli about it," the Ga-Matoran suggested. "She's the one who's really driving the project, being a reporter and all. That and Jaller and Hewkii wouldn't mind either, though they're a bit worried about what all might be living down there in the dark these days."

"Understandable."

"And look at that, home sweet home," Macku said. We'd reached her house again.

"Looks like someone's already in," I pointed out, noting that there were lights on inside. The door was already open; when we entered, Macku announced herself in no uncertain terms:

"I'M HOME!"

"Be right down!" a female voice called from upstairs.

"Looks like Hahli's home," Macku said, after which she shouted back up the stairs: "We've got a guest! Make sure you're presentable!"

"Presenting is kind of my job, you know!" Hahli called back mockingly. "You ever seen me not being presentable!?"

"Hahli's fun," Macku smiled. "Every morning!" she called back. "Anyway, make yourself comfortable." She gestured towards the living room.

"I-I really don't know whether I can stay long." Come to think of it, what was I going to do? Go off looking for Kopaka again? Find some other job in the city? Keep wandering and looking for something to do as a Toa?

"Nonsense! We've got the space and any Toa is always welcome here," Macku assured me as she made her way to the kitchen. "Want something to drink?"

"Sure. Some kind of juice, if you've got it."

"Will do."

The living room had enough chairs and couches for a whole Toa team to make themselves comfortable, and a large telescreen was set up to provide entertainment, though it was currently turned off. What got my attention, though, was a large, framed picture on the wall opposite the telescreen, showing all five Toa Mahri standing with the statue of the sixth, Matoro. So this was what a team of actual heroes looked like… They all stood in front in what I could only assume was full battle gear with the statue towering above and behind them. A small plaque on the frame read:

"The Toa Mahrii: Heroes of the Pit and Saviors of Mata Nui"

Saviors of Mata Nui? Weren't the Toa Nuva the ones who did that? And what was this 'pit' they spoke of?

"Like it?" I turned to find Hahli standing in the doorway, and boy was she not what I'd expected.

"Y-yeah, it's nice." Yes, she still wore the Faxon, and she was definitely still affiliated with the element of water by color, but for a moment I thought I was looking at some kind of Toa-Glatorian hybrid. She was still recognizably a Toa in structure, but the shape reminded me a lot more of a female Glatorian than any kind of Toa I'd ever seen; it was honestly a bit freaky. Also, those thin braided extensions coming from the back of her head… was that imitating hair? She held herself with a kind of self-assured confidence, though.

Hahli walked up and looked at the picture. "Ah, what they call the good old days," she smiled. "When we spent all our time chasing after the Ignika while monsters tried to kill us for it."

"Uh… good thing you guys caught it."

"Barely, but yeah, we did. Those days are well behind us now. Anyway, I'm Hahli, but you probably already knew that." She extended her hand. I shook it.

"Lis."

"Lis? A Toa of… psionics, I'm guessing?"

"Yes, yes. From the south."

"Oh, I've heard about what went down there," Hahli took a seat on one of the couches. "How were the Skakdi?"

"Oh, not all that much trouble in the end," I took the seat across from her. "I mean, all we really had to do was show them that we actually were Toa, after which they pretty much caved."

"Doesn't sound like the Skakdi I remember," Hahli pointed out. "But then again… they were also busy enslaving an island while pretending to be Toa themselves. The stakes were high back then."

"Yeah, ours were just bandits," I admitted.

"Drinks are here!" Macku entered the room with two glasses of fruit juice, setting one in front of each of us on the table.

"Thank you."

"Looks like I'll be frying up Hahnah for dinner," Macku continued. "You two okay with that?"

"Sure," Hahli answered.

"Hahnah sounds nice," I said. I knew it was some sort of sea creature, but had never tasted one before.

"Hahnah it is, then." Macku returned to the kitchen.

"When'd you meet her?" Hahli asked.

"This morning. She offered me lunch, we kept talking, and then she showed me her boat tour."

"That definitely sounds like her," Hahli took a sip from her juice. "She likes to take care of people, particularly Toa."

"She taking care of you Toa, then?" I asked.

"Kind of," the Toa of Water explained. "I mean, we're all perfectly capable of managing ourselves, but if any of us does the cooking we'd end up living off of combat rations. She lives here anyways 'cause she's hitched to Hewkii, and she actually knows how to prepare something, so she does. The rest of us, we're Toa; we do a lot better in battle than in home life."

"So it seems… So what do you do now, then? I assume there isn't some battle you're preparing for."

"Goodness no," Hahli chuckled. "Imagine me going into battle like this." Looking at her, that was hard to imagine. That physique might have worked for Glatorian, but there was a reason that the vast majority of successful fighting Glatorian were male, and I couldn't imagine trying to fit a Toa's anatomy into that shape did any good for their fighting ability. "No, I'm a reporter now. I was chronicler for a while back on Mata Nui, so it seemed like a good job for me, and I really like it."

"Is that the reason… I mean, I don't want to be rude…"

"This?" Hahli gestured at her own body.

"Yeah… it's quite different from your picture."

"Lotta modifications, yeah…" Hahli admitted. "Demographics."

"Demographics?"

"Agori and Glatorian. They apparently have different standards of what looks appealing, and apparently for girls, 'Toa' does not fall under that. Of course, Matoran don't have a problem with it, but that's only half of potential viewers, you know? Basically, I got told that while I did a great job reporting on the actual news, they didn't much like to look at me, which hurt our ratings."

"I don't get that."

"Neither did I, but apparently it was enough of an issue for them to consider firing me. And what would I do then? So I told them that if looking like one of their Glatorian girls would help ratings, I'd be fine making a few… modifications, and this is what we ended up at."

"That's a lot to go through for a job."

"It still is," Hahli admitted, "but I'd rather have this than no job. The Toa Nuva made a pretty good warning of themselves in that department."

"So I hear…"

"Granted, Jaller still doesn't like that I went along with this. Says it'll hurt me in a fight. Like we'll ever need to fight anything again."

"I mean, he's kind of right, though…"

"He is," Hahli laughed. "Imagine me carrying a cordak blaster like this; you know how heavy those things are? But as far as I'm concerned, the weapons can stay mounted on the wall now. Jaller can keep carrying his sword if he wants to, but these days the tool of my trade is the microphone."

"What does Jaller do, then?"

"Works with the police force and city guard. He can probably explain it better when he gets home…" Hahli was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the front door. "Looks like we've got company," she asserted.

"Can you guys get it? I'm kind of in the middle of something here!" Macku called.

"Yeah, we've got it!" Hahli got up and headed down the hallway for the door.

"Were you expecting visitors?" I asked.

"Not that I know of," Hahli called back. I heard the sound of the door being opened. "Yes?"

"I am here to see Toa Gali."


	13. Chapter 13

I recognized the voice immediately: it was Kopaka.

"Toa Gali?" Hahli asked. "Sorry, she's not here."

"I was informed that she is here."

"She's not."

"Reliably informed," Kopaka added.

I entered the hallway only to see Hahli still holding her ground at the door, not stepping aside to let the cloaked figure in front of her in. Rather than interfere, I held myself back and mostly out of view. I was curious: why did Hahli keep saying Gali wasn't here? And for that matter, what did Kopaka do if he didn't know I was there?

"Your source is wrong. Sorry, but please go," Hahli said impatiently.

"I highly doubt that."

"What's going on out there?" Macku called from the kitchen. "Shut the door! It'll get cold in here!"

"Gali is here, I know it," Kopaka continued.

"Look," Hahli said, exasperated, "I told you she's not! Who even told you she is?"

"I was told by Toa Tahu."

"Oh… you know Tahu?" Hahli was a bit perplexed. "Couldn't he come himself?"

"I am not here in his name."

"Well who are you, then, to come here looking for Gali?"

"A friend. Former friend, perhaps."

"Well, you're going to have to do better than that before I let you in," Hahli asserted. The cloaked Toa turned left and right, looking down the street presumably to see if anyone was there to recognize him.

Macku appeared from the kitchen wearing an apron, gloves, and holding what I could only assume was the carapace of a frozen hahnah crab. "Who is it, Hahli?" she asked. Then she noticed the cloaked figure standing in front of the door. "Well, who's that, then? And why is the door still open?"

Apparently satisfied that he wasn't getting any undue attention, the figure pulled back the hood of his cloak, revealing himself as Kopaka, Toa Nuva of Ice. Hahli was staggered. Macku all but dropped the crab.

"May I enter now?" Kopaka asked dryly.

"K-Kopaka? You're alive!?" Hahli couldn't believe it.

"I think that is obvious, and I would like to come in." Kopaka said. Dumbfounded, Hahli stepped aside. Kopaka entered, after which she closed the door behind him. He spotted the Ga-Matoran down the hallway and gave an acknowledging nod. "Hello, Macku…" after which he turned back to the Toa on his left. "…and Hahli." He eyed the Toa of Water head to toe. "You appear to have… changed somewhat," he said with a hint of disapproval in his voice.

"Uhm… long story," Hahli explained. "Where've you been, though?"

"Not your concern," Kopaka said. "I came to see Gali."

"Right…" Hahli clearly wasn't all that thrilled about it. She sighed: "Well, if you have to… follow me." She led the way down the hallway; I made sure to keep a wall between me and Kopaka, though in retrospect his default mask power made that rather pointless. Hahli led Kopaka to the stairwell at the end of the hallway, where they descended to the basement below.

"Who would've thought…" Macku mumbled. Then she spotted me. "You know anything about this?"

"He's the friend was talking about earlier," I replied.

"You're his friend? Sorry if I find that a little hard to believe…"

"Well, I stuck around him for a while, and he appears to tolerate me."

"Well, that's about as close as it ever got with him," Macku acknowledged. "You better go see what's going on down there."

I nodded and started down the stairs, using my Volitak to try not to make any noise as I did so. I found Kopaka and Lis standing in front of a door in the basement hallway.

"She's in here," Hahli said glumly.

"Thank you," Kopaka turned to open the door, but Hahli put her hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Look, at least let me know why you need to see her so badly," she asked. "I know it's none of my business, but I can't just let you walk in there for nothing." Kopaka sighed, then pulled his cloak aside enough to reveal his right leg, visibly shocking Hahli with its mangled appearance.

"I need that fixed," he explained.

"Okay… that's fine," Hahli continued, "but just so you know, she's not doing well. It's… it's been downhill ever since all of you broke up, and I tried… we all tried to help her, but she's lost that drive she had… I'm just not sure if she'll care anymore."

"She will."

"I hope so, but please don't… please don't go all Kopaka about her condition, okay? She's broken enough already."

Kopaka nodded. Hahli let go and stepped aside, after which he opened the door. Some indistinct noise that I concluded had to be some kind of telescreen broadcast emanated from the room. After Kopaka was out of sight, I approached the doorway. Hahli noticed and was about to say something, but I quickly planted the message in her head "don't worry, I know him, and I'd like to see how this goes." Apparently aware that telepathy was among the powers of Toa of Psionics, Hahli didn't question. Instead, she moved past me waited by the stairs, leaning against the wall. I watched events unfold through the doorway.

The room was large and quite dark, only lit by a dim lamp on a side table and a small, early model telescreen on another table tuned to some Agori drama. Facing the telescreen and with its back to the doorway was an old, dilapidated couch; it, the tables, and the telescreen comprised all the furniture in the room. Trash was strewn about the place; old snack food bags, wrappers, dishes… I recognized two axe-like weapons lying in a pile of assorted rubbish in a corner. This place was worse than Tahu's…

Gali was on the couch, watching the telescreen, but I could only see the back of her head at this point. Kopaka slowly made his way across the room; much to my surprise, he dropped the cloak about halfway there, then stopped and waited for a few seconds like he was expecting Gali to notice him. But nothing happened. He hesitantly cleared his throat to get her attention, but got no response; the Toa of Water was apparently very oblivious, but what confused me was how slowly and hesitantly he was going about this, what should have been the end of his journey.

Finally, he stepped forward again and awkwardly made his way around the right side of the couch, avoiding looking at Gali directly. When he reached a spot that that should have been roughly within her peripheral vision, he stopped and stood there, just looking ahead at the wall. He was still trying to get Gali to notice him passively… I focused in on his mind, trying to get some idea of what was taking him so long, and to my great surprise, I got one extremely powerful emotion: fear. Terrible, paralyzing fear. It explained his actions, but what did he have to be afraid of? Whatever it was, he really was forcing himself through this. Meanwhile, when I focused on Gali's mind, it was as though there was almost nothing there; no activity, no thought, no emotion… she was all but shut down; not even dreaming.

After a minute, apparently tired of waiting, Kopaka finally turned to look at Gali for the first time in eight thousand years… and just about did a double take.

"G-Gali!?" Suddenly, it was like there wasn't a shred of that stoic Toa of Ice left. He was floored, staggered, stunned… His jaw would have hit the floor if that had been physically possible, but at last he got Gali's attention.

"What…" She slowly turned her head. At the sight of her brother, I could just see the Toa of Water's eyes widen. "K-Kopaka? I-is that you?" There was something odd about her voice; it was… pressured, breathless. "Am I… Am I seeing things? Is that really you?" Kopaka barely nodded; his mouth was agape and he didn't even blink. For a couple of seconds, neither Toa really seemed to believe what they were looking at. Then Gali noticed the state Kopaka was in, and almost immediately I felt a jolt of concern from her as her mind seemed to suddenly come alive. "By Mata Nui! What happened to you!?" she exclaimed.

"I might ask you the same thing…" Kopaka barely got it out, but Gali didn't even notice. Instead, she got up… or attempted to. Somehow it was extremely difficult for her to get off that couch; while Kopaka watched with in utter disbelief, she rocked back and forth a few times, and eventually with a muffled grunt managed to rise to her feet. At that point, my jaw dropped as well; it was the first time I could see more of her than the back of her head, and I don't want to be rude, but really the only word I could've used to describe her was 'enormous.' In light of the situation, I barely noticed it, but there was a jolt of regret, shame, and worry coming from Hahli's direction. No prizes for guessing that this was the 'condition' that she'd been referring to.

Now standing in front of him, Gali got a much clearer image of Kopaka's injuries, and for a moment she just stood there, shaking her head, trying to take it all in. Kopaka regathered his senses and eventually, with great difficulty, broke the silence.

"Gali… I… I need your help." The words came out labored, forced… his voice sounded hoarse and broke. It was a grueling thing for him to say. I swear there were tears in his eyes; tears of frustration.

"What have you done to yourself…" Gali said, clearly not quite as concerned with Kopaka's mental struggles. "That leg… how long has it been like that?" She moved in to get a closer look.

"It's been some time…" Kopaka admitted, but he didn't get further.

"And you've been walking on it? Like this!?" Before Kopaka could answer, she cut him off: "Never mind that. You're coming with me. Right now." With a surprising turn of speed, she headed for the door; I ducked back into the hallway. Gali appeared and turned to the stairs, shouting: "HAHLI!" Only then did she realize that her fellow Toa was right there, standing apparently flabbergasted at how things were progressing.

"Whatever we have in the medicine cabinet, get it to the guest room! Fast!" Gali ordered.

"Yes… yes of course. Yes!" Hahli dashed up the stairs, apparently… elated for some reason? Meanwhile, Gali headed back into the room. I quickly stepped forward to watch; she'd positioned herself next to Kopaka, who'd started across the room looking more old and broken than ever, and carefully tried to position her hands to support him.

"I will be fine," Kopaka protested, trying with failing strength to push Gali aside, but the Toa of Water wouldn't budge.

"No, you won't," she asserted.

"You can barely support yourself right now," he argued with surprising edge to his voice. "I can manage."

Gali winced at the statement for a moment; it was obvious what Kopaka was pointing out, and that it was a sore spot for her. But she didn't give in. "Shut up," she said. "Like it or not, I'm helping you."

Surprisingly, Kopaka didn't argue further. Really, I didn't get why he'd argued in the first place; wasn't his whole point in being here to get Gali's help? I stepped away from the door again and watched them slowly make their way through the hallway, then up the stairs, where Gali made sure to stay behind Kopaka, just in case he'd fall. The day before, or even a few hours before, I would have thought that all but impossible, but from the way Kopaka moved now, it was obvious that he was struggling with that constant physical pain a lot more than before. Seeing Gali again, that shock… I think it tore down some of his mental barriers.

I followed a little ways behind the two old Toa, but broke off when they headed up to the second floor; clearly the guest room was upstairs, but I heard lots of commotion coming from a room next to the kitchen. It turned out to be a storage room, and the commotion consisted Hahli and Macku going through a bunch of shelves and cabinets, pulling out bottles and vials with a rather impressive variety of pills and potions.

"Wow… you guys have half a hospital in here," I observed.

"Gali insisted on it, back when she cared," Hahli explained. "Speaking of which, that's the first time I've seen her off that couch in months."

"Except to get some of my cooking," Macku joked, though somehow it didn't seem all that appropriate in the moment.

"Well, I for one am glad that at last she seems excited about something." Hahli added.

"Not too sure it was excitement," I voiced my concern. "You're right that she cares for him, though." Frankly, that was a relief; whether his reasoning was correct or not, Kopaka's assertion that Gali would help had been correct. Why had it been so hard for him to ask for it, though?

"Whatever it is," Hahli replied, "it's got her moving. Frankly, that's more than she's done in years."

"Really?" Okay, given her condition it wasn't surprising, but how in the world had Gali gone from the passionate and energetic if emotionally shattered Toa that I'd seen in Kopaka's memory to a listless, half-conscious mound that had practically been grafted to the couch?

"Yup. Coming through," Hahli warned. She was carrying a basket filled with all manner of bottles. I stepped aside to let her through, then followed her up the stairs, where we headed down a hallway to an open door: the guest room. Inside, Kopaka was lying on the bed, fast asleep in spite of the fact that the light was on. Gali was sitting beside him, inspecting his leg more closely.

"Right, this is the first batch of what should still be good," Hahli informed her.

"Please tell me there's some pain killers in there," Gali voiced her concern.

"I think so…" Hahli started pulling out some of the bottles and set them on a side table.

"Wow, asleep just like that?" I observed. "How'd you pull that off?"

"My brother's exhausted," Gali said. "I don't think he's slept in days. And who are you, by the way?"

"Lis," I introduced myself. "I was with him, actually."

"You brought him here?" She looked surprised.

"Not really… more like I followed him and he tolerated me," I admitted. "Until this morning, when he just… left while I wasn't looking."

"Well, we're lucky he made it," Gali noted. "It's not just his leg that's in a poor state."

"I've noticed that," I said. "He's got scars all over."

"It's not the scars, it's what's below," Gali explained. "From the state he's in… he had maybe a week left."


	14. Chapter 14

"Can we do anything?" Hahli wondered.

"There's a lot that needs to be done… but yes, I think we can fix him." Gali said somberly.

"How?" I asked.

Gali sighed. "Well, we should probably start with the most dangerous thing…"

"The leg?" I mean, it was the most severely damaged part of his body… on the surface.

"The leg is bad, but it won't kill him," the Toa of Water asserted. "He'd be better off if we looked at his pump first."

"What's wrong with it?" Hahli asked.

"Look at his heartlight," Gali instructed, "then compare it to yours, or mine." That we did; our heartlights all had a steady, bright beat, though Gali's was noticeably quicker than Hahli's or mine, but Kopaka's was nowhere near as bright, and it seemed to hiccup… a lot. "His heart pump is damaged somehow," Gali concluded; "it's not keeping up a strong or steady flow." She turned to Hahli. "You said we still had painkillers?"

"Uhm, yes…" Hahli sorted through a few bottles before coming up with one that contained a few green, speckled pills, which she handed to Gali.

"Hmm…" the elder Toa inspected the bottle's worn-down label. "They'll take the edge off, but I fear that we'll need something stronger."

"I think that's all we have," Hahli replied.

"We're about to do surgery here, Hahli!" Gali replied, suddenly agitated. "I'd rather not have him wake up in the middle of it!"

"Surgery?" I wasn't too keen on the idea of doing that in a guest room with only outdated medicine to work with.

"Yes! We'll need a knive, a stitching kit, a toolbox…" Gali hurriedly counted off on her fingers.

"What's all this about?" a voice came from the doorway. I turned to see Jaller standing there. Unlike the Toa of Water, he definitely was in full combat gear, and had changed very little from that picture. "Hahli, what's going on?" he demanded. "I come home to find Macku frantically going through the cabinets, and now you've occupied a guest room…" then he noticed me. "And who are you?"

"Jaller!" Gali greeted him before I could reply, clearly taking the Toa of Fire by surprise with her presence. "Good thing you're here: we need your help."

"You're up here too!? Help? With what?" Jaller entered the room, only to see Kopaka on the bed. Suffice to say he wasn't much good at concealing his feelings on the mounting number of surprises. "I-is that… Is that Kopaka?" he asked. Hahli nodded. "What happened to him!?" Jaller looked to each of us for answers.

"Not important," Gali said. "What is important is that we're going to fix him."

"So this is what it takes to get you out of the basement…" Jaller mumbled, still not really believing what he was seeing. "Fine then. You said I could help?"

"You could start by finding a toolbox," Gali replied. "We'll be doing surgery."

"By Mata Nui, I hope this goes well…" Jaller moved out, presumably to retrieve the tools.

"How can I help?" I inquired.

Gali thought for a moment. "We'll need to keep him out during the procedure… can you use Psionics to keep him asleep?"

"Uhm… I can give him pleasant dreams, maybe…" I wasn't too sure. "Anything beyond that would be stabbing in the dark at mind control, and I'm not really comfortable with that."

"Well, keep an eye on what he's thinking," Gali said as she created some water in her hand and used it to maneuver one of the pain killer pills down Kopaka's throat. "That should help with any chance of pain signals waking him up… but if you could try to block out pain it would help a lot."

"I think he does that rather well himelf," I joked half-heartedly, "but I can do it."

So I prepared to try and isolate Kopaka's mind from... well, his body. It's tricky, you see, because much of what I can actually 'see,' if you can call it that, is the mind reacting to what the body sends it… and I basically was trying to cut some of the signals by putting up a psionic barrier. There was no telling how that would alter Kopaka's experience, though in theory it should've made the whole procedure like a peaceful night's sleep to him. Meanwhile, Gali instructed Hahli to go find her Akaku Nuva, the knife, and the sowing kit from earlier, while she and I busied ourselves with removing Kopaka's chestplate. When Hahli returned with the mask, Gali used it to inspect the insides of his body more closely; she wasn't much thrilled at what she saw, but before she could explain what concerned her, Jaller arrived with a pretty expansive set of tools.

From that point on, the operation was in full gear. Gali used a knife to carefully cut through muscle strands that enveloped the chest, laying bare the core structure beneath; a mesh cage that contained and protected the vital organs. Worryingly, the mesh already looked like it had taken a lot of hits and had been shoddily repaired more than once. Wire cutters from Jaller's kit made opening it up a quick job, but all of us except Gali were staggered when we saw inside… much of the cavity was filled with the air exchangers, but these were deeply scarred and had clearly sustained multiple cutting and stabbing wounds.

"We'll have to stitch those up too…" Gali noted. However, the most shocking was the state of the pump, located in the center of the chest right behind where the heartlight was before we pulled it aside with the mesh. It was in bad shape; the housing was cracked, though thankfully nothing appeared to be leaking out, and it had a large dent on one side. It produced an ominous rattling sound, as though something inside was constantly banging against the bent housing.

"How'd it get cracked like that?" Hahli asked.

"The cold…" Jaller observed, "it makes metal brittle. The pump housing got too cold, then something hit it hard… producing the dent and the cracks."

"Too cold for a Toa of Ice?" I found that hard to believe.

"He can deal with it better than we can," Gali explained, "but he is far from invulnerable. There's also a lot of dirt in his system."

"So… his heart's smashed and his blood's dirty…" I concluded.

"I can deal with the blood," Gali said. "Water cleanses… but the state of the pump is another matter, which is why you're here." She pointed at Jaller. "Fire welds."

"Woah!" Jaller reacted. "Fixing Tahu's armor, fine, but I'm not heating a running heart pump close to melting point. It'd kill him!"

"I can't very well take it out for you," Gali countered, increasingly frustrated, "and if we don't fix that dent and the cracks, this thing'll soon stop on its own! Of course, then you can take your sweet time fixing it up, except WE WON'T HAVE A TOA LEFT TO PUT IT IN!" Her heartlight flashed bright… the stress of the situation, coupled with these outbursts, were not doing her already taxed body any favors.

"Okay, okay!" Jaller raised his hands. "I'll do it, but you'll have to guarantee it's safe first."

"Thank you." Gali was still on edge. She took a few deep breaths, then set about explaining: "Blood's mostly liquid protodermis. Hahli can keep it flowing through there no matter what you do, and it'll take care of the cooling, as long as we don't have the pump too hot for too long. It won't be comfortable for Kopaka, but that's what she's here for." She nodded to me.

"I'm on it," I assured him. "I'm Lis, by the way."

"Please, Jaller," Hahli pleaded.

"Fine…" Jaller sighed. "If we're all so intent on doing this, I suppose we'd better get to it."

For the next three hours, Hahli and Jaller were a team in sync, surprisingly. Jaller carefully repeated a process of finding a crack, heating the area around it until the metal turned red, and then lightly hammering it closed, while Hahli kept up blood pressure on the inside to keep the pump itself clear. The large dent was handled that way as well; heated until the metal was soft enough to manipulate, after which both Hahli and Gali carefully pressed the blood against it on the inside to push out and restore the area to its original shape. The operation was difficult because they had to shape the flow to pressure that one area of the housing without allowing it to slow down too much; the latter option would've stopped the pump completely, which would've been catastrophic. On the plus side, once the dent was (mostly) gone, the ominous rattling sound stopped.

By the end, the pump looked far from new, but it was a great improvement, and when we temporarily closed the mesh and re-connected the heartlight, it already displayed a much more consistent beat than the day before, though still a weak one. However, by that point we were all well exhausted.

"You need me to weld the mesh closed as well?" Jaller asked, not sounding excited about the prospect. "We've passed midnight here, and I don't have much left in me."

"Neither do I…" Hahli admitted.

"The imminent danger has been averted," Gali concluded. "We'll have to work on the air exchangers, but not tonight." She turned to me: "You can stop now, too."

"Are you sure?" I was still blocking pain signals left and right. "His chest is still open, and his body doesn't like that."

"It'll hurt him," Gali took out another pain killer pill and gently washed it down Kopaka's throat, "but you need the break."

"Okay then…" I broke off contact. I would've gone for hours longer if needed, but now that I wasn't focusing on Kopaka anymore, I realized just how taxing an activity it was; I was exhausted, too. Now that we had all disengaged for the moment, we could at last breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, Kopaka's chest was still open, and nothing'd been done about the air exchangers, but the most imminent problem had been apparently solved.

"Thanks for helping me press out that dent," Hahli turned to Gali.

"It would have been nice if you'd jumped in a little more often," Jaller commented to the older Toa. He had a point: apart from when they were working out the big dent, Gali had mostly sat by and offered occasional advice. "Why didn't you?"

"Because I'm going to be up all night keeping an eye on him and cleansing his blood," Gali said.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Jaller said with a surprisingly cynical tone. "Put it through a sieve?"

"In a way," Gali replied coldly.

"Well, I'll let you get to sieving then." Jaller got up.

"I'll check in with you in the morning, okay?" Hahli told Gali, before yawning and getting up as well.

"Of course… good night." Gali turned her attention back to Kopaka as Jaller and Hahli left the room.

"I can stay, if you need me…" I offered.

"Not as much as you need sleep right now," Gali said quietly. "Go, get some rest. I'll probably need your help again tomorrow."

"Goodnight, then." I got up and stepped out as well. Then I realized I should've probably asked Hahli about where I was expected to stay, or if I was going to stay the night at all. With all the chaos concerning Kopaka, I hadn't really considered it, and I wanted to make sure it was okay with them first. Following her and Jaller, I got about halfway down the stairs when I heard them talking in the living room.

"What do you mean, routine?" Hahli asked.

"I mean that this has happened before." Jaller said, sounding rather agitated. "It's like this every time Tahu stops by, and I don't like where it's going."

"But this time's different," Hahli argued. "For one, that isn't Tahu lying up there!"

"An insignificant detail," Jaller countered. "Things'll play out the same as they always have."

"Kopaka is dying!" Hahli exclaimed. "Don't you see how much more important that is than Tahu's little scratches? Gali knows that! This'll be the time we've been waiting for!"

"The time you've been waiting for, and no it won't!" Jaller argued. "Kopaka'll wake up at the end of it, and he'll be just like Tahu: he'll point out the truth, she can't take it, he leaves, and all the progress you say she's making will be gone! Again!"

"Kopaka isn't like that!" Hahli shot back. "He's critical, maybe, but I told him not to bring it up and he promised!"

"He did? Really?" Jaller was skeptical.

"Okay, fine, I asked him and he nodded yes!" Hahli admitted. "But that's a promise, and Kopaka takes those seriously!"

"You think you know him that well!?" Jaller shouted in an almost mocking tone. "Kopaka is worse than Tahu! Tahu at least cares; Kopaka'll tell the truth and bugger the consequences! After all this, she'll be back in our basement, more depressed than ever, and mindlessly making her way through mountains of food and programs that we have to pay for!"

"Kopaka won't destroy her like that! And regardless, we owe her our lives, so have some respect!" Hahli pleaded.

"We've been respectful, we've been patient, we've tried to help, and nothing's worked!" Jaller was sick and tired of it. "If it takes a dying Toa to get her out of that basement..." he sighed. "Kopaka is only going to be here for so long. She'll slip away again afterwards regardless of what he does."

"She's stronger than that!" Hahli argued, "and besides, your attitude is doing nothing to help her!"

Neither of them noticed, but as they continued arguing in the living room, the front door opened and Hewkii stepped into the hallway. I quickly activated my Volitak to remain hidden in the stairway. Hewkii put aside the Kolhii stick he'd been carrying, stretched, then seemed to realize there was an argument going on… and his cheerful expression instantly turned sour. He made his way to the living room, but stopped at the doorway and just leant against the wall, watching the argument unfold.

"Neither is yours, or Macku's for that matter," Jaller pointed out to Hahli. "You're not doing her any favors by ignoring the truth! She's destroying herself, she doesn't care anymore, and you're letting her!"

"She does care!" Hahli was getting emotional. "Don't you ever talk with her!? She's embarrassed! She feels useless! She's ashamed! And you know what!? It only keeps her trapped down there! She just needs something to properly get going again… this is it!"

"And what if it isn't!?" Jaller shot back. "I'm not doing this anymore! I'm not letting you throw away your income and your life just to keep her around and pity her!"

"That's not your decision to make!" Hahli reminded him. "How I spend my earnings is none of your business!"

Hewkii cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Okay, that's enough! Cut it out, cut it out…"


	15. Chapter 15

I quietly made my way to the living room entrance to see what was happening.

"Really, you guys are having this same argument again!?" Hewkii exclaimed. "What's the point!? I thought we agreed on her staying here so long as you footed the bill!" he gestured towards Hahli.

"We did, and I have no problem with that." Hahli said. Both she and Jaller were trying to regain their composure.

"I didn't either, but this has really gotten out of hand," Jaller admitted. He turned back to Hahli: "at the rate things are going, she won't even be able to walk soon. What'll you do then? Help her to the bathroom, bathe her?"

"If I have to, I will," Hahli asserted.

Jaller gestured wildly with his arms: "Don't you see how ridiculous that is!? You're willing to let her get to that point, and you'll still help her when she gets there!"

"Okay, okay!" Hewkii interposed himself between the two. "This isn't going anywhere, you realize that, right? Look at you; you're both exhausted. Is this really the time to bring this up?"

Having seen and heard enough, I stepped back, only to almost trip over something. I turned to find Macku standing behind me. The look her face was a worried one.

"Oh, sorry…" she apologized quietly. "We-we've got another room, if you'd like to use it."

"That'd be great," I yawned. I followed Macku back up the stairs. "Do those happen often?"

"The arguments?"

"Yes."

Macku sighed. "they do… every week or two that they argue about whether or not Gali can stay here. And every time Tahu shows up." As we passed by the room where Gali and Kopaka were, I looked in. Gali was sitting by the side of the bed, leaning forward, and… doing something around the pump.

"Hang on, I'd like to take a look at this." I stepped in to get a better look.

Gali had enveloped the entire pump in a bubble of water that she held suspended; she'd cut small holes in the lines leading into and out of the pump, diverting blood through the bubble instead… where she manipulated it to push dirt, small metal fragments, and other contaminants to the outside of the bubble, keeping them from re-entering the bloodstream. It was a slow, meticulous process, and the Toa of Water was intensely focused; she didn't even notice my presence. That or she didn't bother acknowledging it. Having seen enough, I rejoined Macku in the hallway.

"So, the surgery was a success, then?" Macku asked.

"Well, the pump is working better," I informed her, "but Gali's still keeping an eye on him while cleaning the blood."

"She's a miracle worker," Macku said without a hint of doubt.

"I suppose she is." I couldn't help but wonder how Macku had developed such a respect for this one Toa, in spite of her obvious… failings. "What did Jaller mean when he said she'd just slip away again after this?" I asked. "She seems to be doing rather well now..."

"She is," Macku replied as she opened the door to another room, "and it's the same way whenever Tahu shows up. When the opportunity comes for her to do something that really matters for her former teammates, she steps up and does it…"

"…but?" I could sense there was more.

"Apart from those times, she… she feels useless. Ever since the Toa Nuva broke up, really… I think it broke something in her. Afterwards, she just didn't find meaning in anything she could do anymore."

"Surely, there must be something," I argued, "I mean, imagine her working in a hospital, doing things like that… and I'm sure there's lots of other things she's good at. Even just the wisdom of an elder Toa must be worth something."

"It is, and she worked at a hospital for a while," Macku explained, "but most of the cases that show up these days are little scratches and bruises that just about anyone could fix; not something that makes her feel… essential. Anything worse usually comes out of the arena, and she won't support those fights by fixing the gladiators up again and again. Tahu's the only exception." The Ga-Matoran'd taken a seat on the bed.

"So how'd she end up here?" I wondered.

"Hahli's concern, mostly. She could see her slipping away like that, becoming more and more depressed at feeling… not needed, you know? She could see Gali was losing that drive, that purpose… I mean, anyone could see it happening. She shut herself out, her place was a mess, she wasn't making any money, she stopped taking care of herself…"

"She let go." I concluded.

"Exactly," Macku agreed. "When she couldn't afford to live on her own anymore, Hahli invited her to move in here and took her to places, tried to get her to try new things, hoping something would capture her interest and get her going again."

"And she didn't like any of them?"

"That's the vicious thing about depression," Macku sighed. "It destroys vitality. I'm sure she would have liked something, but… it just didn't get through to her. It's like she sees everything as doomed to be pointless from the outset, and that colors the experience a lot."

"Except when a wounded fellow Toa shows up at the door," I noted.

"That's the weird part," Macku acknowledged. "The moment she's got that opportunity, to help out and old ally… it's like that fire in her instantly sparks up again."

"What keeps putting it out?" I wondered.

"Well, in Tahu's case, they inevitably end up arguing about what he does, and how she disagrees with it. Then he gets angry, bashes her on her weight, and they throw insults at each other. When he leaves, she feels worse than ever about herself."

"That's rather rude of him," Really, I knew Tahu was temperamental and prone to acting without thinking, but I couldn't imagine him being that vicious towards Gali… even when the team broke up, I remembered him being relatively civil about it.

"To say the least. I swear, if it wasn't for the fact that he at least gets her to get off that couch for a while, I wouldn't let him in." Thinking about Tahu seemed to make Macku's temper flare up too. Was Tahu really that bad?

"Well, insults aside, he would be right… I mean, Gali has gotten rather big…" I still found it hard to believe Gali'd let herself get to this point when she could see it happening. "She does know, right?"

"Of course," Macku said, somewhat indignant. "She struggles with it every day; you really think she doesn't know?"

"No, it's just… How'd she let it get to this? Couldn't she see it happening?" That comment set Macku off.

"You really don't get it, do you?" she got off the bed. "She can see it every time she looks in the mirror, feel it every time she struggles to get up of that couch, or wakes up gasping for breath! Believe me, she knows!"

"Okay, sorry…" I raised my hands slightly to indicate I meant no insult.

"And you know what?" she continued, "Hahli's right: Gali's ashamed of herself. You know, she used to go outside occasionally, until those rude Agori kids started calling her names; now she won't even go near a window. Jaller tried his 'tough love' approach, and guess what? It only made things worse. Whenever Tahu comes along, she still helps him, and he goes and confirms her fears by saying she should be ashamed of herself, and that he'd be embarrassed to be seen with her. You know what that does to her!?" Macku pounded a fist in the air to drive the point home. "They're making her feel terrible! Worthless! They're only driving her down further!" She shook her head… "She knows she has to do something… but she can't do it when everyone around her just makes her feel bad about herself. I-I honestly think she's given up on it."

Macku seemed to be at wit's end. I stood by, a bit surprised by how emotional of a subject this was for the Ga-Matoran. For a few seconds, the room was quiet as she collected herself. "Sorry I went off on you like that…" she continued, more quietly. "It's just… It's hard to look at her like this, you know? She was a hero to us… she still is. I can't even count how many times she was the only thing standing between us and death… and saved us. So I don't care, I don't care what state she's in or what she looks like; neither does Hahli. It's our duty now to take care of her, regardless of what Jaller, or Tahu, or anyone else says."

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you're right." I told her. "And if what I saw today is anything to go on, I think you'll pull her out of it, too." I honestly did. If, when he woke up, Kopaka broke her the way Tahu did, I'd have some serious words for him about the concept of gratitude.

"Thanks. I hope you're right." Macku gave an earnest smile. She sighed, then turned her attention to the room: "Anyways, uhm, there's a bed, some cabinets if you need to bring anything in here, and the bathroom's down the hall…

"I think I'll just need the bed…" I was having trouble just keeping my eyes open.

"In that case, good night, and I'll make sure to have breakfast ready in the morning."

"Thanks. 'night." Macku proceeded to leave the room. I closed the door, still trying to process everything that had happened in the last few minutes, but I was burnt out for the day. After I turned off the lights, I pretty much collapsed onto the bed and was out in seconds.

I'm seeing something… I'm in some kind of complex underground… a brutish, dark being is standing in front of me… is he laughing at me? I look around… there's figures, figures lying on the floor... it's dark, but I feel like I can recognize them… hang on, is that… is that Kopaka? And Tahu? They're not moving! None of them are… are they… dead? I can't tell from here…

"You were fools to come here," the being says in a deep, ominous, twisted voice… a voice of madness. "This staff belongs TO ME!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" I'm surprised to hear my own voice… there's a dark determination to it…

"There is NOTHING you can do!" the being's eyes flash red.

"Watch and see!" I call out. Suddenly, there's a growing sensation all through my body… first it's a kind of tingling, then more like pressure… I feel like it's something I'm doing, but what is it? It's getting painful… a sharp, unrelenting pain… I want to scream, to shout, to stop, but I can't. The pressure keeps building… It's becoming almost unbearable… Suddenly, I hear myself screaming, but it isn't pain… no, it's… it's rage.

KRABOOM!

I woke up in cold sweat. It was still dark out, and a quick glance at the clock confirmed I'd only been out for a few hours… well, out... apart from unintentional memory sharing, I guess. That image, though… the Toa Nuva lying either dead or knocked out in front of this bizarre being… Who was it from? Who else was awake this time of night?

Oh right… Gali.

Since I figured I wouldn't fall back to sleep all that quickly anyways, I decided to go and check on her. The room was still lit; I entered to find her still using a water bubble to 'filter' Kopaka's blood, though the bubble was larger and cleaner than before.

"I guess you weren't kidding when you said 'all night'," I quietly remarked.

"Oh." Gali hadn't noticed me coming in. "Yes… this is a bit of a long process."

"Seems to work, though," I noted. "That bubble already looks better than a few hours ago."

"I think I got most of it," Gali said, gesturing towards a small bucket set on the bedside table. I noticed there was quite a lot of a dark, grimy substance in there.

I leant against the wall opposite the bed from Gali. "How'd that even get into his blood?"

"Deep cuts that were not quickly taken care of," the Toa of Water concluded. "My brother has never been known for his medical skills, much as he likes to try."

"Not many doctors to turn to up in those mountains," I remarked. "He said he studies stars up there… but he'd have to occasionally go out and hunt something to eat. That probably explains the injuries."

Gali looked at me curiously. "Studying stars? Is that what he told you?"

"Well, something like it… you don't think it's true?"

"No, it probably is… to the extent that it's the reason that he's convinced himself of." Gali turned her attention back to Kopaka.

"Convinced himself? What do you mean by that?"

Gali sighed. "My brother has always wanted to be alone, to do things himself. He never trusts anyone else to get a job done, so he isolates himself; alone, he can't rely on anyone for anything. I guarantee you that's the reason why he went into those mountains, not to look at stars; he wanted to get away from everyone to live out his ideal of self-reliance." I was reminded of how difficult it had been for Kopaka to even admit he needed Gali's help, even when she was standing in front of him.

"But he can't really do everything himself. I mean, look at the state he's in."

"Good luck getting him to admit that," Gali said somberly. "I tried for ages and never got anywhere. The only time when he actually worked with us was when not doing so would've killed him. Even then, he never asked for anything."

"Fair point." Again, it was Kopaka trying to be completely independent from others.

"Have you met Tahu?" Gali asked, much to my surprise.

"Yes," I answered. "He actually pointed us to Hahli to find you."

"You know what he does?"

"He fights in the Arena Magna. I saw last night's fight."

"Dreadful business, but… it's kind of odd," Gali mused. "You know, he and Kopaka used to argue all the time, about who was in charge, about what they thought of each other… yet for all their differences, they're doing the same thing now."

"How so?" I thought stargazing and arena fighting were vastly different occupations.

"They're both living out their fantasy," Gali answered with a hint of foreboding in her voice. "… and it's killing them both." She sighed again. "Look, you really shouldn't be up at this hour."

"I know, just… bad dreams." I mean, it was kind of true. "This is interesting, though."

"Get some rest, really…" Gali said. "I can bore you with stories from the past later."

"Fair enough," I yawned. Perhaps it wouldn't take all that long to get back to sleep after all. "Goodnight then."

"Goodnight, Lis."

I made my way back to my room, still wondering what exactly Gali meant by Kopaka's "fantasy." His wish to be totally independent, not answering to nor relying upon anyone for anything… I hadn't really questioned it before. But the old Toa of Water was right in that there had to be a reason why Kopaka went into those mountains specifically; he could study stars far better by working the telescopes in one of New Atero's knowledge towers… and I was pretty sure that several of those already existed at the time he left. It fit, though rather uncomfortably so for me; much as he wished to do everything alone, surely Kopaka had to acknowledge at some point that he wasn't the expert in everything that he apparently thought himself to be. He'd already reached that point at least once. It was why he was here in the first place: there were things he simply couldn't fix. Not alone, that is.

Thing is, he had to come to death's doorstep to admit it.


	16. Chapter 16

Thankfully, the rest of the night was free of unwarranted mind reading, and I felt pretty rested when I woke up in what I thought was the morning; an illusion that lasted all of about five seconds when Macku knocked on the door.

"Hey Lis! Are you up yet?"

"Yeah, yeah…" I made my way to the door.

"Great," Macku continued. "We're about to have lunch." I stopped for a moment… lunch? Just what time was it? I opened the door to find the Ga-Matoran still standing there.

"Lunch already?"

"Well, I tried to wake you for breakfast," Macku explained, "but you were out cold. Then Gali said you'd woken up again in the middle of the night, so I figured it was better to leave you be."

"Ah…" I followed Macku down the hallway. I noticed the door to the room in which we'd put Kopaka was closed. "Is she still watching over Kopaka?"

"No, Hahli is doing that now. Gali was pretty beat this morning," Macku informed me. "She told me to wake her up for lunch, though. I figured I'd cook up that crab from yesterday, since dinner was kind of a bust."

"Sounds nice."

"Say, how about you go get Gali, and I'll get the crab started?" Macku suggested.

"Sure." We'd reached ground level, so Macku headed to the kitchen while I took the stairs to the basement. I headed straight for Gali's 'living room,' but the telescreen was off and the Toa wasn't there. I noticed a side door to the left, which as it turned out led to a small and quite decrepit looking bathroom. Still, no Gali… Back in the hallway, I tried the next door down; it led to another room roughly the size of the living room, which also featured a small, dirty window near the ceiling. The window shed some dim light onto the only piece of furniture in the room: a large bed that supported the bulbous, obese shape of the sleeping Toa. She looked like she'd collapsed face-first onto the bed. I knocked on the door.

"Uhm… huh?" Gali moaned, half conscious. "W-what is it?"

"It's lunchtime," I informed her.

"Oh… already?"

"Yeah… Macku's going to cook up the Hahnah crab that we were going to have for dinner yesterday," I continued. "Want to join in?"

"Yeah, just… give me a minute," she held up a finger.

"Okay." I stepped back into the hallway and waited, leaning against the wall. After a few seconds, I heard a series of groans and ominous creaking sounds as the heavyweight Toa maneuvered herself from lying face-down on the bed to standing next to it. The struggle took a minute, and at one point she stopped for a bit to catch her breath. Eventually, though, she appeared in the doorway, and we proceeded down the hall to the bottom of the stairs. Now that Kopaka wasn't occupying my attention, I actually saw just what a challenge even basic mobility was becoming for Gali; she didn't walk, she waddled, swaying heavily from side to side with each step forward and swinging her arms to help shift the weight about.

"Uhm, are you okay?" I was honestly concerned just by how much of a struggle it apparently was for her just to get out of the bed and… walk.

"Well, I've managed so far, haven't I?" Gali replied, sounding a bit agitated. "Go on," she gestured up the stairs. I made my way up; she followed, taking one step at a time, hands on both railings to help pull herself up. When she reached the top of the stairs, she had to catch her breath again... even through her mask I was pretty sure her face was flushed. "Right," she said, "lunch, then?"

Macku'd already thrown the crab into a boiling pot, so we made our way to the living room, where Gali occupied a couch while I took one of the chairs.

"So," I began, "what's the plan? We still need to close up Kopaka, right?"

"After the air exchangers are fixed up," she reminded me, still a bit out of breath. "A lot of sowing work, mostly… and we need Jaller to actually close him up well."

"When does he get home?"

"Sometime in the evening… of course there's also the leg."

"Hey, Lis!" Macku called from the kitchen.

"Yes!?"

"Can you go check on Hahli and Kopaka!? See if they want anything!?"

"Sure!" I got up.

"He's probably awake, by the way," Gali added as I made for the hallway. Awake? In his current state? "…and I think she's already working on the sowing." I couldn't imagine that being all that comfortable for Kopaka, though he at least had Hahli to keep him company… As expected, I found Hahli sitting beside the bed, and she had indeed broken out the sowing kit and was working on one of the air exchangers, cleaning out filth and then sowing up the wounds. Kopaka was awake, and watched the whole thing rather intently.

"How's it going?" I asked. Immediately, I noticed Kopaka was very surprised at my presence, though as I'd come to expect of him, he tried not to show it on the outside.

"Well, this one's coming along," Hahli said as she diligently used a small brush and water to clean out a particularly vicious cut, "but these things have taken a lot of hits. I'm going to be busy all afternoon at the least."

"What did you run into up there that did that?" I asked Kopaka, pointing at the wound.

"Muaka," the Toa of Ice answered. "…and a few other things, but mostly muaka."

"Really, you shouldn't go picking fights with those anymore," Hahli pointed out.

"One muaka provides enough meat to last months," Kopaka countered. "They are well worth the risk."

"Risk of getting gored, or your leg chewed up?" I was rather skeptical. Kopaka merely grunted, then resumed his careful examination of Hahli's working methods. "Anyway," I continued, turning back to Hahli, "lunch is about to be served downstairs. Should I bring some up or do you want to come down?"

"If you could," the Toa of Water began, but Kopaka cut her off.

"We will come down," he decided.

"Na-ah! No way you're going anywhere opened up like this," Hahli said as she put her tools aside. "I can bring something up for you, but you're staying here." Kopaka didn't reply immediately; instead he grabbed the opened mesh, folded it closed, and flash-froze some small orbs of ice around the edge to hold it in place.

"My chestplate," he demanded.

"No. Not happening." Hahli argued, but Kopaka didn't need her cooperation; he'd just find the plate himself. Unsurprisingly, that didn't take the Akaku-equipped Toa very long. He grabbed the chestplate from under the bed, packed his cut muscle strands together, and fitted it back on.

"You're going to walk down there like this!?" Hahli couldn't believe it.

"I will be fine," Kopaka concluded, reaching for his cane. Hahli sighed while muttering something about a Kane-Ra mentality… Clearly, the Toa of Ice wasn't going to take no for an answer, but his body thought otherwise; the cut muscle strands normally helped brace the shoulders, so their disconnection meant he couldn't support a lot of weight with his arms. As he reached with his left arm, the right gave way, and he fell back onto the bed, grimacing from the pain in his chest.

"See?" Hahli quickly moved in and helped to return Kopaka to his position of lying down on the bed.

"Fine…" Kopaka grudgingly agreed.

"Lis, just bring some food up here for us," Hahli suggested.

"Will do." I was still concerned about Kopaka's condition after his attempt to get up, but knowing Hahli would keep a close eye on him, I made my way back downstairs and informed Macku that Hahli and Kopaka would like their food brought up; she told me it would be ready in ten minutes, so I went back to the living room, where Gali'd turned on the telescreen, which was turned to some news channel.

"Only two days after the last time that Tahu, known as 'Master of Fire' gave another stunning performance in the Arena, his next challenger is already fast approaching," an Ice Agori reporter explained, "and excitement is building as the world waits for what will certainly be an epic confrontation between the Toa veteran and the rookie: the Porcupine." It went on to describe the Porcupine's recent rise in the rankings. I shuddered, recalling the Iron Skakdi's brutal fight against the Lady of the Frost; Gali's expression had turned decidedly sour.

"I saw him, two days ago," I told her. "The Porcupine, he's… he's brutal."

"They all are," Gali said dourly. "Those fights should have been banned long ago. They're barbaric."

"Of course. I mean, the Agori say it's an important part of their history," or so I'd heard, "but why can't they just leave it as that… history?"

"It's hard for people to let go of the past," Gali sighed.

"Right…" I nodded. Her comment resonated more than I think she'd meant it to. "That's why Tahu's still in there too, right?" Gali looked at me curiously. "That's his fantasy," I continued, "that he's still in the past, that he still needs to fight."

"Perhaps…" Gali shrugged. "You could be right; some part of Tahu's definitely stuck in the past… Kopaka, too," she sighed. "You know he used to fight Muaka all the time on Mata Nui?"

"He did?"

"They sometimes attacked Ko-Matoran on the icy mountains," the Toa of water explained. "Kopaka stopped them. He even saved Matoro a couple of times that way."

"He did?" That shed a whole new light on his relationship with and reference for the dead hero.

"Indeed," Gali continued. "It seems my brothers really are living in the past."

"And what about you?" I asked. "What did you do back then?"

Gali seemed a bit surprised to have the question turned on her. She thought for a moment. "Well, I watched over Ga-Koro," she remembered, "fought some Tarakava, healed the Matoran when they were injured… You should have seen the ocean of Aqua Magna back then; it was beautiful." She smiled, but it was a sad smile. "Of course, that's all over now."

"Isn't that ocean out there still Aqua Magna?" I asked, gesturing towards the water to the east.

"It is," Gali acknowledged, "but it's not really the same… nothing is these days." I wasn't going to point it out straight to her face, but it was becoming clear to me that, while Gali wasn't living the past, she certainly hadn't moved on either. Rather, she just seemed to mourn what had been lost… I wasn't sure which I preferred: her approach of lamenting what had been lost and just fading with it, or Tahu and Kopaka's of trying to preserve it and soldier on at all costs. In the end, it hadn't turned out very well for any of them.

We sat and silently watched the telescreen broadcast until Macku arrived and set a pot filled with cooked Hahnah meat on the table.

"Lunch is served," she announced. "Hang on, let me grab you some plates." She soon returned with plates and cutlery, divvying them up by giving a set to me and Gali and then setting the other three down on the table.

"Okay, let me just take some out for Hahli and Kopaka first," she said as she produced a serving spoon and scooped a solid serving onto each plate."

"I can carry them up for them, if you'd like," I offered.

"It's fine, I've got it covered," she said as she grabbed the two plates. "I'll be right back." She vanished into the hallway. Gali gestured at the pot, and then at me.

"Enjoy," she invited. I scooped up a few spoons' worth of Hahnah meat before sitting back down in my chair. Then I noticed the pot was definitely out of Gali's reach, and the Toa of water was preparing to get up to serve herself. Remembering that image of her trying with difficulty to get off the couch, I got up and set my plate aside.

"Here, I've got it." I reached out for Gali to hand me her plate, but she instead put it aside.

"Don't worry," she assured me, placing her hands onto the couch beside her to help push herself up.

"No, here." I picked up the pot and moved it to Gali's side of the table, then handed her the spoon.

"Thanks…" She smiled for a moment, but I could sense a hint of… something. Not quite embarrassment, nor guilt, or shame… maybe a little combination of all three, a tacit acknowledgement that the help was appreciated, but not really needed, or perhaps it just shouldn't have been needed even though it kind of was. I sat back down, then watched as Gali served herself a… uhm… very generous helping of crab, which she finished before I was even halfway done with my plate. Macku returned and took a small portion for herself, after which we continued watching the telescreen broadcast while Gali served herself seconds… and thirds. Macku noticed it too, but didn't say anything. Out of politeness, I didn't either, but all of the sudden Gali's condition was making a lot more sense. Weird thing is, she didn't bat an eye about it; she seemed keenly aware and ashamed of her size, but didn't seem in at all motivated to do something about it. In spite of everything, was she still in denial, just like Kopaka about his injuries? Or was Macku right?

Had Gali really given up?


	17. Chapter 17

Lunch finished, Gali headed back downstairs to rest up before trying to tackle Kopaka's leg, which would require Jaller's abilities to fix up properly. I went upstairs to see how Hahli and the Toa of Ice were doing and retrieve their plates. I found Hahli still cleaning out cuts on the air exchangers, but it seemed the largest ones had been taken care of. Kopaka, customarily confident in his own abilities and apparently with his mental barriers to pain restored, was actually working at it as well; the sight of him reaching with a small, wet brush into his own chest and rubbing clean scratches and on his air exchangers as he was breathing was a bit bizarre, yet he behaved as though it was entirely normal. Two empty plates were sitting on the side table by the door.

"I came to collect the dishes," I explained, then nodded to Hahli: "Looks like you've got some help."

"So it appears," Hahli said with a slight edge to her voice. Apparently she wasn't much pleased with Kopaka's self-operating habits.

"Well, on the plus side, you'll be done quicker," I noted as I collected the silverware.

"I suppose," Hahli agreed. "And after we close it up we can start work on his leg." I noted she was talking about Kopaka in the third person in front of his face, not that he minded. "Then he finally can go back to… whatever he did."

"Astronomy," Kopaka said without looking up.

"Right, astronomy…" Hahli rolled her eyes.

"Do you not have some news story to cover?" Kopaka asked. "I have things covered here."

"Uhm, no you don't," Hahli asserted. "You've been watching, and now you're bungling about. That's all. And for your information, this 'doll' took a day off." Doll? What was that all about?

"A waste of a day off," Kopaka said. "I would have been fine until the evening."

"You know what?" Hahli put her sowing tools aside and got up. "Fine, you manage if you're so eager to," she said curtly, then turned and made her way out of the room. I looked back at Kopaka, who didn't seem fazed in the slightest, then followed Hahli. I caught up with her at the bottom of the stairs. "Damned fool," Hahli muttered as she made her way to the kitchen, where Macku was cleaning up.

"How's it going?" the Matoran asked, but Hahli didn't reply. Instead, she grabbed a cup from the counter and proceeded to root through the coolbox for a drink.

"I got the plates," I informed Macku, setting them next to the other dishes on the counter. Macku nodded towards Hahli with a questioning look on her face. "Kopaka's being Kopaka," I explained.

"He's being an idiot," Hahli remarked as she pulled a bottle filled with some kind of wine out of the coolbox.

"Hahli, wine? At this hour, really?" Macku said, somewhat concerned.

"I'm tired, so to me it's evening." Hahli poured some wine into the cup, then placed the bottle back into the coolbox.

"You're worried about Kopaka," Macku asserted.

"Everyone's worried about Kopaka except Kopaka." Hahli said, frustrated. "Once he's halfway patched up, he'll just walk out of here thinking he can take care of the rest of it."

"You'd like him to thank you first," Macku smiled, though I could tell this was more a nervous attempt to use humor to diffuse tension rather than to actually cheer anyone up.

"No, I wouldn't expect that from him," Hahli took a sip, "but at the very least he could care, you know? I mean, we're doing him a massive favor here, and he acts like it's nothing."

"He thinks it's your duty," I interjected. "Or Gali's, at least. He sees it as duty."

"Wonderful," Hahli said sarcastically. "So he thinks we all exist to help him."

"Not exactly…"

"Right..." Hahli walked out, heading for the living room. Macku sighed and returned to the dishes while I followed the Toa, who'd taken up a reclining armchair.

"Look, I know he can be a bit exhausting, but I can keep an eye on him for a while if you need a break," I offered.

"Nah, he's probably right," Hahli sighed. "I mean, he looks bad, but he's not critical or anything anymore…" she took another sip.

"That's Kopaka." I sat down on one of the benches. "Annoyingly right..."

"Yeah, I don't mind him being right, even if he is being a fool regardless," Hahli said, "but really, why does he have to be so… rude about everything, you know? He doesn't care, he never considers how it makes me feel. Or Gali. Or you, I'm guessing."

"True," I couldn't argue that, "he does do that."

"You know what he told me?" Hahli asked. I nodded no. "He wakes up while I'm sowing on his insides, doesn't say anything, not even a peep. Just sits and watches, for like an hour, just staring at me working. I'm finally done with the biggest cut that he had in there, so I ask him how he's feeling. He says fine."

"Right…" Seemed like his usual answer.

"Then he asks me, and I'm quoting here, 'Why do you look like a meato fantasy doll?'" "Meato" was derogative slang sometimes used by Matoran to describe Agori and Glatorian, a turn of language I certainly wouldn't have expected from Kopaka.

"Okay, that is bad," I agreed. "He really said that?"

"That's not all," Hahli continued. "He goes into this whole spiel about Gali, and how I shouldn't have let her blow up like she has. Says she's an embarrassment to Toa, and I'm somehow responsible."

"He didn't say how?"

"Nope. Just convinced I was," Hahli said, taking a larger swig from the cup. "I spent hours working on him, and then he proceeds to insult me like that. It's like he's got it in for me for some reason. What did I ever do to him?"

"Hm…" I thought about it for a bit, but that really did seem very unlike Kopaka. "You're right. That doesn't make any sense, and even if it did, he's got no right to talk to you like that."

"So he's just a jerk, then." Hahli concluded.

"Maybe, but… it's not like him." I continued. Hahli looked at me curiously. "I mean, he comes off as rude," I explained, "but from what I've seen everything he does is… considered, you know? He thinks things through, he looks at them objectively. Insulting and blaming people… it's not what he does."

"Well, you might want to check his brain then," Hahli said. "If you're right, something in him's gotta be messed up."

"Maybe I should go talk to him." I got up.

"Good luck." Hahli turned her attention back to her drink.

I considered what I was going to tell Kopaka as I headed back upstairs. The last twenty-four hours had been rather crazy, and now I had a chance to finally ask some questions. What gave him the right to mouth off to Hahli like that? Also, why'd he abandoned the park when he'd promised me he'd be there when I got back? Never mind the fact that he'd promised to show me the final battle; he owed me some answers, especially since I helped out with the surgery.

I found him still sitting in bed, trying with some difficulty to thread a needle. "No success?" I asked.

Kopaka looked up. "So you made it here."

"I did. Before you, as it happens," I informed him. "I was here when they did the surgery on your pump. I helped." Focused on the needle, he didn't reply. "So where'd you go?" I asked.

"Go? When?" He'd at last gotten the tread through the tiny hole in the needle.

I took a seat next to the bed. "At the park. You said you'd be there, I got back, and you were nowhere to be seen."

"I got lunch," Kopaka said calmly, but I could tell that wasn't the whole story.

"Just lunch?"

"Yes." Apparently, that was all he was willing to give. I knew there was more, and I was already convinced that, in fact, his disappearance had been a deliberate attempt by him to be rid of me before meeting Gali. Though I wondered why, I didn't feel like I was going to get anywhere pursuing that line of inquiry.

"You really should let Hahli do that," I pointed as Kopaka started to try and sow shut one of the cuts on the air exchangers.

"No need," he replied.

"You know, she's not happy with your accusations," I continued. "About her looks, and what happened with Gali."

"I told her the truth," Kopaka said without a hint of regret.

"Yeah, I know you do that, but have you ever considered that sometimes the truth hurts?" I asked. I actually was interested in what he'd have to say to that.

"Not as much as the fallout of a truth gone untold," he said flatly.

"You know, I think that depends," I argued. "It's usually not so clear-cut, especially when other people get involved."

"To you, perhaps, but you do not know the other Toa as I do."

"Really?" That rather surprised me. If anything, as a Toa of Psionics, I figured I had the edge in reading others. What kind of reaction did he expect from these people who he apparently knew so well?

Kopaka looked me straight in the eyes. "We fought alongside each other. We saved each other's lives. We faced the Makuta, the Bohrok, and the Rahkshi. I assure you, I know my brothers and sisters well."

"Uh-huh…" I wasn't convinced. He certainly had more experience with the other Toa, true, but from what I'd seen his ability to really understand them in anything other than a purely analytical way was very limited. "So, are you going to tell Gali the same things once she makes it up here, right?"

"What things?"

"What you told Hahli," I explained. "That how she's an embarrassment to the Toa, that Hahli looks like a fantasy doll, that stuff. I mean, clearly you don't approve, so are you going to tell Gali about it like you did with Hahli?"

Kopaka thought for a moment. "No."

"Why not?" I continued. "Does Gali not deserve to be… informed of your thoughts like Hahli was?"

"She does," Kopaka looked a bit confused as to what exactly I was calling into question.

"…but you're not going to tell her. Seems to me that you're blaming Hahli for everything that's changed; she certainly thinks so." I had him; he'd betrayed a bias. Not a surprising one, really, but I wanted to see him explain his way out of it: in his 'objective' view, what made Gali and Hahli different? Why did Hahli get the harsh truth, with insults thrown in, while Gali would be spared?

Kopaka didn't quite seem to get it yet, so I posed the question: "why is Hahli the only one who you are willing to tell the truth to?"

"She is not the only one," Kopaka said. "I would tell Jaller and Macku the same things."

"You're dodging," I said. "Why them and not Gali? What makes Gali different?"

Kopaka thought deeply, even stopping his sowing as he concentrated; he was genuinely having difficulty coming up with an explanation. Watching his mind, I could see that considering the question was bringing up a number of emotional responses… Just as I expected, Kopaka wasn't the fully rational machine that he pretended to be. To me it was obvious: having fought alongside Gali as much as he had, he emphasized with her more. Perhaps he even felt a need somewhere to protect her, or at least not to treat her has harshly as he did everyone else, a feeling clearly absent in his dealings with Hahli. In fact, as I looked deeper, it seemed that the emotion associated with Hahli was disappointment, mixed even with anger... anger about what? Meanwhile thoughts of Gali elicited concern, worry. Contrary to what he showed on the surface, and even deluded himself into thinking, Kopaka really did care for his sister… something that to him just didn't compute.

"Difficult to explain, huh?" I couldn't help but smile in spite of the fact that I could detect a growing frustration within his mind.

"Like I said," Kopaka spoke up, "you do not know the Toa as I do. You cannot understand." Interesting that he was projecting a lack of understanding onto me… unless there really was something in their history that he could use to rationalize his feelings.

"Well, perhaps you could help me with that," I argued. "I seem to recall you promising that you'd show me the final battle at some point. The other Toa were there, right? Show me what it was like, and maybe I'll get it."

Kopaka sighed. "I am busy, but I will show you, soon." He went back to his stitching. "Patience is the fourth virtue, Lis. Even the Makuta understood that."

"I'd be patient if I wasn't afraid you'd just run off again as soon as you could."

"You have my assurance that I will not." He considered that case closed.

"Fine." I agreed, but I'd be keeping a close eye on him. I also noticed his stitches were slow and rather shoddy. "You've never done that before, have you?"

"No."

"Here," I reached out, trying to get him to hand over the needle and thread.

"I will be fine."

"You won't. C'mon, let me try." He hesitantly released the tools to me, after which I proceeded to stitch up the cut in a far cleaner manner; having worked under a tailor for years before becoming a Toa, I was pretty darn good at it. Just like he apparently had with Hahli, Kopaka kept a close eye on what I was doing, but didn't say another word. Nevertheless, I could sense that there was a lot more going on inside him than the outside betrayed. It seemed that I really had gotten him to ask himself some questions, a victory in itself as far as I was concerned.

I thought back to what Hahli'd said… did Kopaka really see her like that? For that matter, what did the think of me? I had half the mind to ask him, but given that he'd tried to get rid of me just the day before, I was worried that I wouldn't much like his answer.


	18. Chapter 18

By the end of the afternoon, everything in Kopaka's chest was looking solid again, if far from pristine. All that was required now was for Jaller to weld the protective mesh shut and then to sow the covering muscle back together.

"So, feeling better?" I asked Kopaka.

"Yes," he said without much excitement.

"We'll get started on your leg tonight, I'm sure."

"At last." Clearly, Kopaka didn't much fancy staying here for very long. I think he'd expected to be on his way already.

"Well, good afternoon," a voice from behind surprised me. I turned to see Hewkii's black and yellow form filling most of the doorway. "I was told we had guests," he explained as he entered. "Sorry I didn't get to meet you yesterday. I'm Hewkii." He extended a hand towards me.

"Lis," I introduced myself.

"A pleasure," Hewkii replied, then turned his attention to the Toa of Ice in the bed. "Well, well. One has to see to believe it."

"Hello, Hewkii." Kopaka greeted him flatly.

"So, you're back after all these years."

"Only temporarily."

"And it looks like you took a few knocks up there. That's looking pretty beat up." Hewkii pointed at Kopaka's leg.

"Muaka."

"No kidding, huh. Some people never change," Hewkii smiled.

"Some…" Kopaka said with a dour undertone.

"So, you're staying for long?"

"No."

"Ah… well, I'm sure we'll have plenty of stories to tell over dinner." Hewkii turned to me. "And what about you?"

"I'm kind of keeping an eye on him," I explained.

"In case he tries to run away?" Hewkii joked, apparently unaware that that was actually a possibility.

"Kind of," I smiled.

"Well, Macku said dinner will be ready in half an hour or so," Hewkii informed us, "and she's insisting that we should all be there to make it a 'family dinner.'" He rolled his eyes, clearly not as committed to the idea of a family dinner as Macku. Wasn't that something Agori did, since they actually had… families? "Looks like you're not in any condition to move, though." Hewkii pointed at Kopaka's open chest.

"It appears so," Kopaka said. I sensed a degree of relief in him; perhaps he realized his open chest was a great way to avoid sitting with a bunch of people conversing at a dinner table. However, I was quite curious to actually hear what kind of stories would surface with Kopaka around, so I decided not to let him pass on the opportunity.

"Get Jaller up here and he'll be ready," I assured Hewkii. "Everything in there's fixed, we just need him to close it properly."

"Works for me," Hewkii said as he turned to head back out and downstairs. "See you downstairs in a bit."

Kopaka seemed somewhat agitated, but he didn't comment. It wasn't long before Jaller appeared.

"Hewkii said I had to do some welding." I noticed he was still in what amounted to full combat gear, minus his sword.

"They are done with my lungs," Kopaka said, to my surprise, "and apparently it is important that you close this quickly." He lifted up the mesh flap, revealing the cleaned-up chest cavity below.

"Gali's not here?" Jaller looked around.

"She's resting, but she'll need your help on the leg later," I explained.

"Fine…" Jaller sighed as he positioned himself beside the bed. "This might sting a little," he added as he looked into Kopaka's chest, then lined up the edges of the mesh flap with those of the gap. Without stopping to ask Kopaka whether he was good to start, he proceeded to slowly run his fingers along the cut lines, heating up and pinching the metal threads to weld them together. I could tell the process was painful for Kopaka, but he didn't so much as blink, rigidly maintaining control over his reflexes in the way that I was becoming so familiar with. I watched, intrigued by how Jaller quickly maneuvered his fingers to grab two tiny metal strands and weld them into one in a matter of seconds. He repeated the process over and over, making his way along the seam at a fair pace; clearly, it was a well-practiced routine.

"You've done this before, I'm guessing?" I asked quietly as to not disturb Jaller too much.

"On Tahu, lots of times," Jaller answered slowly as he concentrated.

"Ah… He gets cut up a lot, I bet." I'd forgotten about Tahu; Mata Nui only knew what his insides looked like after a couple thousand years of fighting.

"That he does." Jaller said in a grim tone. "Nothing compared to what he does to his opponents."

"Murder." Kopaka said. For a second or two, no one answered.

"Pretty much," Jaller agreed, though he seemed somewhat more indifferent to it than Kopaka.

"We saw the match against Stronius," I added. "It was brutal…"

"Hahli told me about it," Jaller said. "A shame how our brother has fallen." I got a distinct feeling of bitterness from him, but it wasn't just directed towards Tahu.

"Worse is that he is not alone," Kopaka added. "Much has changed since I was last here."

Jaller nodded in agreement. "Last of the old guard, that's what we are, apparently."

"Quite literally, in your case," I smiled, trying to add a little humor to the distinctly dour conversation.

Jaller looked at me; he wasn't amused. "The city guard, you mean?" He sighed again. "That was all of us once."

"Did Kongu and Nuparu leave?" Kopaka asked.

"More or less," Jaller said. "They're off doing their own thing and don't visit this city much, but they'd help if they were called upon. Hewkii would pick up arms, too. As for Hahli…"

"I doubt she would be capable of lifting them," Kopaka asserted.

"Not in her current form," Jaller said, sounding rather dismayed. "Our sister has forsaken her ability to protect those who need us in favor of the wishes of a few grumpy Agori."

"Truly shameful," Kopaka agreed.

"I think she's fine," I interrupted. The two Toa turned to me.

"Go on," Jaller invited.

"I mean, she's different, yes," I continued, "but she really didn't have a choice if she wanted to keep her job. And being a journalist, she's got a lot of power to call attention to those who need help. There's something to be said for that when it comes to helping those in need." Really, I felt both Jaller and Kopaka were being very short-sighted in their approach to their duty. The old guard they may have been, but the world and the Toa had moved on, something that Kopaka in particular seemed to have a hard time coming to grips with.

"So she keeps telling me," Jaller said, turning his attention back to welding. "Insists that the pen is mightier than the sword, and that the camera and microphone have the pen beaten in turn. Personally, I'll take a sword any day; pens, cameras, and microphones would have done nothing to deter the Piraka or the Barraki's legions." Kopaka gave a nod in agreement. I shrugged. "What did you tell her, by the way?" Jaller asked Kopaka. "She was very cross with you when I got home."

"The truth," Kopaka answered.

Jaller looked up at him. "The truth?"

"He told her she looks like a Glatorian doll," I explained, "and that she's responsible for Gali's… situation."

Jaller stopped welding again and turned to Kopaka. "Is that true?" he asked with a distinct edge to his voice.

"As I said, the truth," Kopaka asserted.

"On the doll thing, you may have a point," the Toa of Fire admitted, "but if you blame her for Gali's size, we're going to have a problem. She has nothing to do with that."

"She seems quite eager to give her whatever she wants," Kopaka argued.

"And she's been trying for years to get Gali off of that couch," Jaller pointed out. "Hahli's worked day and night to find things for her to do, to try and help her out of the hole you all threw her into. I keep telling her it's a lost cause, but she won't give up on it. Say what you will, but Hahli's the one person who's doing anything to help your sister. We clear on that?"

"Clear," Kopaka said coldly, but I could tell he didn't really believe what Jaller was saying. That idea of Gali being so far gone that even with Hahli's help she'd failed to get herself together just didn't make sense to him. That wasn't the Gali he knew… yet I remembered seeing Gali's breakdown at the end of that last meeting. Jaller was right; the other Toa, Kopaka included, really had broken her. Jaller continued welding for a bit longer before calling it good.

"Looks like I'm done," He concluded. "I'm guessing you've got it from here?"

"Yes, I do." Kopaka answered, already starting to re-connect various muscle strands over the newly repaired mesh.

"Good." Jaller leant back, then watched as Kopaka crudely tied together some of the muscle strands. "That won't hold long," he pointed out.

"It does not need to," Kopaka noted. Before long, he asked me to hand over his chest plate, which he fitted solidly. Granted, the muscles were a mess underneath, and but at the very least he now looked presentable. Kopaka reached for his cane, but was hindered by the fact that the tied-together muscle strands couldn't stretch to give him full range of motion.

"Here." Jaller handed him the cane. Now equipped, Kopaka got out of the bed, standing somewhat unsteadily at first. For a moment, I was concerned, but the Toa of Ice quickly regained his bearings and started making his way to the hall. I could tell he wasn't dealing with as much pain as he had been before; his step was quicker and there was a greater confidence, a calculated certainty to his movement. Granted, he still limped and it was more than obvious his body wasn't in a good way, but he nevertheless seemed significantly stronger than before. Jaller and I followed him down the stairs and to the living room, where we found Hahli and Hewkii already at the table. Hewkii was talking about the preparations for some big upcoming game, but he fell silent for a moment when Kopaka appeared in the doorway.

"Welcome," the Toa of Stone greeted, motioning to some of the open spots on the couches and chairs around the table. "Take a seat. Macku said things'll be ready in a minute or two." Behind his welcome I could detect concern; Hewkii hadn't seen Kopaka standing until this point, and I don't think he'd realized just how battered the old Toa was until now. Hahli nodded and feigned a smile but she didn't seem to be in a particularly good mood. Cutlery and plates were already laid out on the table. We all took a seat. Jaller took a chair at the head of the table; something told me that was his usual spot. Kopaka took the chair next to him, while I sat down on the couch opposite the one that Hewkii and Hahli'd taken.

"So, as I was saying…" Hewkii continued telling of how he was coaching the Po-Matoran Kolhii team for their next big game, only days away. Apparently, they didn't lack in spirit, but their technique was often sloppy, which led them to lose points more often than they should have. Nevertheless, Hewkii believed they would do well. Jaller noted the Ta-Matoran guard team had been practicing as well, though they were more proficient in wielding spears and thornax launchers than Kolhii staffs.

"…as they should be," Jaller finished.

"How's the Ga-Matoran team doing?" Hewkii turned to Hahli.

"I checked in on them last week, remember?" Hahli reminded him. "They're hard at work, I'm sure. Kotu wants them to be ready to face you guys in the finals."

The conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a slightly winded Gali. "Good evening," she greeted us. We all kind of nodded in return as she made her way across the room. "May I?" she asked, pointing at the open spot next to me.

"Of course." I smiled, thinking Gali was nothing if not polite. I mean, it was a two-person couch, after all, but it was nice of her to ask…

"Thanks." Gali turned and carefully lowered her bulk onto the couch, taking up two-thirds of its seating space in the process. No one said anything, but even without psionic abilities it was obvious everyone was kind of uncomfortable. The awkward silence continued for a few more seconds until Hahli cleared her throat.

"Ahem," she turned to Jaller. "So, did you get the mesh closed up?"

"Yes," Jaller replied, "But the muscle's another matter." He turned to Gali. "You'll have to stitch that back together."

"Of course," Gali agreed. "How are you feeling?" she asked Kopaka.

"Better," he answered matter-of-factly.

"Good," Gali nodded somewhat worriedly. "That's… that's good." I could tell she was nervous among the company of her fellow Toa… or was she just dismayed by Kopaka's indifferent reply? Either way, she was getting more uncomfortable by the second, not helped by the fact that everyone else pretended to be minding their own business; only Hahli's expression showed any shared concern.

All spirits were lifted, however, by the arrival of Macku and dinner.


	19. Chapter 19

Macku was carrying a large tray filled with some kind of roasted bird rahi. "Dinner's here," she announced as she set it down on the table.

"Husi!" Hewkii identified the meal. "You've really outdone yourself this time, Macku."

"Best to bring out something special when we have guests," Macku smiled, looking at me and Kopaka. No kidding about the 'special' part. Not only did the husi look to be impeccably cooked; it was lying on a kind of seaweed salad bed, with various fruits arranged throughout. A carving fork and knife protruded from the top of the roasted bird. Macku'd clearly put time into the presentation.

"It looks great," I commented. "Thank you."

"Please, tuck in," Macku stepped back and walked around us, taking the one spot remaining on the couch next to Hewkii.

Jaller got up and pulled the carving equipment out of the bird's back. He turned to Kopaka, asking: "how much?" Kopaka held up two slightly pinched fingers, prompting Jaller to carve off a small piece of the husi and deposit it on Kopaka's plate. The Toa of Ice sat back, while Jaller turned to me.

It wasn't long before he'd served everyone their desired helping, and we all enjoyed the result of Macku, by her description, "…experimenting all day with different spices to get just the right flavor." As far as I was concerned, she'd hit the mark, and I don't think anyone at the table would have argued. The arrival of food as a topic also dispelled the uncomfortable air that had pervaded before Macku's arrival, though the Ga-Matoran's curiosity and conversational drive certainly helped. Hewkii told us about the progress that his Kolhii team had made again, after which Jaller and Hahli described exactly what all they'd done to fix up Kopaka's insides. The Toa of Ice remained noticeably quiet throughout the conversation, his eyes mostly fixed on Gali, who was making her way through one generous helping of Husi after another. I got a growing sense of disbelief and frustration from Kopaka; I think he was having a hard time believing that that really was his sister sitting down the table. His mounting feelings had me worried, too. What would he say if he was left alone with Gali?

"What do you think, Lis?" Hahli asked.

"Huh?" for a moment I'd stopped listening. "Sorry, about what?"

"Going back into the Great Spirit Robot," Macku explained.

"We're going to get a hold of some Kaukaus, if possible," Hahli added. "It'll be expensive, but it would help a lot for those of us who can't breathe water."

"Oh, right, since the thing is flooded," I caught up. "Well, if we're going that route, we might look at a few other masks that could be helpful." I'd seen first-hand from Kopaka how useful an arsenal of Kanohi could be, taxing as it probably was to maintain.

"Not a bad idea," Hahli said. "Again, though; it'll be expensive."

"Who else do you have so far?" I asked.

"Well, we're all coming," Jaller said, gesturing to himself as well as Hewkii.

"I'm going to work on documenting the trip," Hahli said. "There may not be much left in there, but any footage would help teach newer generations about where their ancestors came from."

"It's documenting our history," Hewkii added. "We've come far ever since we all left that robot, but sometimes it pays to look back."

"And, when is this all supposed to happen?" I wondered.

"Sometime early next year," Hahli answered. "We've been thinking about it for years, but only recently have things really begun to pick up steam. That said, there'll be a lot of equipment involved. Even if we decide to bring more Kanohi, it'd only be the start of it."

"Of course," I agreed, "and I'll help in whatever way I can."

"Good to see that at least someone is still interested in preserving our past," Hewkii smiled. "Seriously, I had to explain to one of my Kolhii players the other day what a Bohrok is." Everyone chuckled, though again there was a kind of uncomfortable undertone, an acknowledgement that, barring me, they were all getting on a bit, and the experiences that had defined them were now well beyond the memory of most people.

The conversation soon moved on to some of the stories Hahli had covered as of late, which in turn led to a discussion of the renovations being made to the city's largest Kolhii stadium. Macku stepped out to get drinks at one point. After a good hour and a half, there wasn't anything left of the Husi beyond its bones, largely due to Gali's 'efforts.' Macku brought out a very nice looking pie for dessert. It turned out to taste as good as it looked, and it wasn't long before the plate was all but empty, and all of us were quite satisfied.

"That was excellent, Macku," Hewkii complemented. The rest of us agreed.

"Glad you all liked it," the Ga-Matoran smiled. "So, what's the plan for the evening?"

"I think we should start on that leg." Jaller gestured to Kopaka, then looked to Gali. "Can we get it done before midnight this time?

"Shouldn't be a problem," Gali said somewhat sheepishly.

"Well, if you're all going to do that…" Hewkii got up and turned to Macku, "… I'd like head out for a bit. Would you like to join me?" he invited the Ga-Matoran.

"Oh, I've got to take care of the dishes first," Macku blushed, "but after that…"

"I've got it," Hahli interjected. "You two go have fun."

"Really, Hahli, it's no problem," Macku argued.

"No, just go," Hahli urged her. "You've been working like mad for us the past two days. Go and enjoy yourself." I wasn't going to say it, but I could tell Hahli had her own reasons to want to occupy herself with the dishes; her mood had sunk the moment the topic of Kopaka's leg was brought up. I think she wanted to keep some distance between herself and him for a while, and this was her ticket out of helping with the surgery.

"Well, if you insist…" Macku turned back to Hewkii. "Shall we?" They left the room and were soon out of the house.

"Not that it is any of my business, but… where are they going?" I asked.

"The beach, probably," Hahli explained, relieved. "It's nice and quiet in the evening. Romantic, even."

"Ah…" I was right; Hewkii and Macku's relationship was far more than a close friendship, though I couldn't really decipher the reason why.

As Hahli gathered the dishes and took them to the kitchen, Jaller, Kopaka, and Gali proceeded to make their way upstairs. I followed them, and soon we were ready to start fixing the most obviously broken thing about Kopaka's body; that mangled right leg. Kopaka'd already acknowledged that a Muaka was responsible for it, and by the looks of it the leg had been used as a chew toy by one of those massive creatures. Its armor had large holes and gashes torn into it, and was bent in a number of ways that would have made it impossible to fit it onto a… non-mangled leg, I guess.

After we removed the plating, the true extent of the damage became clear; the leg had been broken in multiple places and clearly hadn't been set properly; the core structure had several jarring, unnatural angles to it, exposed between the atrophied muscle strands that stretched over it but failed to cover it in any way. The knee joint was in poor shape, and the ankle was busted to the point of locking Kopaka's foot in place.

"You tried to fix this yourself, didn't you?" Gali asked.

"Of course," Kopaka said as though that was never in question.

"Well, it's not good," Gali continued. "The muscle in here's almost gone… looks like you haven't had much circulation in here for a while."

"It kept freezing," Kopaka answered. Somehow I found the thought of a Toa of Ice having to worry about freezing a bit ironic.

"That's because there was no circulation," Gali concluded as she started to inspect some of the muscle strands more closely, disconnecting and peeling them back to lay bare the structure underneath. "Well, good news is the muscle isn't dead," she said, "but even if we arrange everything properly, it'll be weak. You won't be rid of that cane for a while."

"At least it will recover," I said, trying to put a positive spin on things. I was relieved; for a moment, I thought the leg was beyond fixing and that we'd have to amputate it and get a hold of replacement parts.

"Just like Tahu, right?" Jaller asked. "Start by straightening the bone?"

"Right," Gali agreed. "Work from the inside out." She had now disconnected almost all the muscle strands, laying them on the table beside her. They looked like dark, shriveled worms; not at all the healthy, reddish tissue that one would normally expect. The leg's jagged and bent metal inner structure was now laid bare; I sensed disbelief from Jaller.

"Even Tahu's never this bad," he half mumbled as he begun to inspect some of the sharp turns and jagged edges on the bone. It clearly had been set badly, and Kopaka's body had ever so slowly welded it back together, cementing its new position. "I may have to break and re-weld it altogether," Jaller informed us. "It'll be quicker than trying to melt and bend it all back into shape." Kopaka nodded, but Gali looked a bit more worried.

"You're sure?" she asked. "It would also be the most painful way to go about it, and we're out of pain killers."

"You've got me," I offered. "If Kopaka's fine with it, that is…" I looked to Kopaka, who uncharacteristically hesitated at first, but then relented. "It would help if you were asleep," I suggested. "Less noise for me to keep track of."

"So be it, then," Kopaka said.

"Very well," Gali sighed, opening up the drawer of the bedside table, and pulling out one of the bottles that Hahli and Macku had gathered the night before. "This'll help you get to sleep," she explained to Kopaka, "but don't hold me accountable for the dreams." Apparently unconcerned by the warning, Kopaka took the pill and swallowed it, then lay back and closed his eyes.

"That was quick," Jaller noted. "Usually it takes longer with Tahu."

"He's not asleep," I corrected him. "He's waiting. Give him a few minutes." I could still see plenty of activity in Kopaka's brain, but it slowly started to settle down. While I waited, Gali and Jaller discussed the exact procedure lying in front of them; Gali'd stop the circulation running through the leg altogether so they could operate on it safely, after which Jaller would heat up the bone in its worst bent spot until it was hot enough to break cleanly and reset. He'd probably have to move quite a bit of metal about in the process, but once the worst break was corrected, the rest could probably be bent back into shape. After the muscle strands were re-fitted, the knee joint would have to be oiled.

"As for the ankle…" Gali sighed. "I'm afraid there's not much we can do there without new parts." She pointed out the ankle had probably received the worst end of the Muaka's teeth, and that it had been broken so badly that in the process of welding the pieces back together, Kopaka's body had completely locked up the joint. Short of a new ankle, not much could be done to fix it.

"I think he's asleep now," I informed her. It'd been about ten minutes, during which I'd gradually watched Kopaka's mind settle into its resting state.

"Let's get started, then." Jaller picked up the mangled armor plates and used them to prop up the leg to make sure the sheets wouldn't catch fire (apparently, that had happened with Tahu, once). He then placed his hands on the worst bent section of the bone, channeling his control of fire to gradually heat it up. Meanwhile, Gali focused her power in on the blood channels higher up the leg, stopping the flow as to dry up what little remained in the vessels further down. I closed my eyes and focused on Kopaka's mind more clearly, ready to block out the 'red' signals. Already, a slow stream was pouring in as the bone was heated up to painful levels.

That incoming stream steadily grew stronger over the next fifteen minutes as Jaller heated up the leg to the point where, as Gali described, it was glowing in an orange-red color. After another minute or two, I suddenly had to block a near avalanche of pain signals; Jaller'd broken the leg in two. Now he'd clean and reshape the breaking points so he could smoothly weld everything back together at the right angle. Had Kopaka been awake, I couldn't help but think that even he would have been screaming with the pain that was surging through the nerves in the part of the leg that was still attached, but I was keeping him insulated from it, and I was getting better at it.

Then I noticed signals beginning to flare up in a different area… they certainly weren't pain. Was Kopaka waking up? I considered trying to block them, to try and dim the lights, so to speak, but I quickly realized that this wasn't Kopaka's regaining consciousness… no, he was dreaming. For a while, I considered trying to read into the signals, but I didn't want to lose track of the ones I was actually supposed to be watching for, so I waited.

"Hey, Lis," Gali got my attention, sounding somewhat concerned.

"Yes?" I answered.

"He's looking a bit uncomfortable… Are you doing alright?"

"Yeah…" I looked to see if I was missing any pain signals. I could imagine Kopaka was shifting, or grimacing, or something of the kind. However, as far as I could see, he should have been perfectly fine, unless… "It's not pain," I informed Gali. "I think he's dreaming… maybe it's a nightmare. I'll try to check it out."

"You sure?" Gali asked.

"Yeah, hang on…" I couldn't quite untangle the new dreaming signals from the underlying noise, so I didn't want to try and block them, but I could try to read into them, to get a picture, a snapshot of what exactly Kopaka was experiencing. Turned out I was in for a lot more than just a snapshot.


	20. Chapter 20

I can't see, but I can smell something… something awful, something rotten. I'm hurting real bad, too, and I can hear a voice. It's a deep, tremendous voice, clearly from some powerful being, but I can't distinguish what it's saying. It's distorted, like I'm listening to it underwater, but it still sounds threatening. A momentary flash of light blinds my eyes, then things darken again, but I can see now. Everything's blurry, but I can make out that I'm lying on the ground. I look over slightly… now I recognize where I am! I don't know its name, but I've seen this place before. It's some kind of dark cave… I can barely distinguish some nightmarish-looking equipment. Is this some kind of lab? Scrap seems to be littered everywhere… my eyes fall on a red shape lying on the ground not far away from me. I blink again, trying to see more clearly exactly what it is. It's… It's Tahu!

He's knocked out, wounded just like me. I try to get up, but I don't have the strength. Instead, I turn my head, trying to look around and figure out what's going on. I spot the green figure of Toa Lewa lying on the ground a bit farther away, along with Pohatu… that other, darker one must be Onua… Where's Gali?

"Watch and see!" I hear her announce from above. I look up. Gali's there, standing on a stone pillar, facing off against a monstrous, shadowy creature. A blue aura has formed around her, and I can see streaks of it drawing into her body. She's starting to glow… what is she doing? She's in mortal danger! We all are!

At last finding new strength, I get to my knees, but my body still isn't really cooperating. The dark being raises one of its arms, revealing a long chain which suddenly ignites. It's twirling the flaming weapon around as though it weighs nothing, threatening to bring it down on us at any moment! Gali, meanwhile, now looks as though she is turning into light; she glows so brightly as to make looking at her difficult. I finally get to my feet, but I have trouble standing up fully. Nevertheless, I raise my swords and attempt to call up a bolt of ice to deter our foe, but my power fails me… I try again, but barely manage a wisp of condensed air.

Gali is somehow floating above the ground, and her bright light is now illuminates our enemy. I can see his face; a bizarre mask that looks to have been welded together from scrap, yet it gives off an aura of great power. Bright red, demonic eyes are focused down on my fellow Toa as the demon suddenly raises his arm, then brings it down in a rapid motion, sending the end of the chain on a collision course with her. She's mere moments from being struck down… At last, a sudden surge of power allows me to move, I run, sprint towards Gali, switching masks as I do so. Activating the new mask, I rise into the air; my momentum still drives me forward as the chain comes careening down onto my sister, who now seems utterly oblivious to what's happening. I raise my shield, on course to interpose myself between her and the tyrant's weapon…

CLANG!

Two links in the chain smash into my shield, deflecting the weapon away and sending me hurtling off to the other side. I almost hit the ground, but recover my senses soon enough to re-activate my mask and hover above it. My shield is dented and covered in black burn marks, but it has saved us; I put it away. Now positioned a ways to the right and behind Gali, I can see the chain has been extinguished. Power surging, I rapidly rise into the air, trying to get a clearer shot. About fifty meters up, I raise my blades, calling the elemental power of Ice, then point them down towards our enemy, who seems to be laughing and screaming at the same time in a power-crazed frenzy. Enough of that; I launch a freezing beam at his mask, rapidly creating a sheet of ice to blind him. Gali's still gathering energy, floating in the air with her arms outstretched. Suddenly, I realize what she's going to do…

Without warning, a bright flash emits from her; I'm blinded, but my ears all but shatter as a gargantuan explosion rips through the cave, and for a moment I swear I see a tidal wave shooting off in all directions at once… then everything goes silent. I don't hear, see, or smell anything anymore…

The dream was over.

I pulled back for a moment, back into my own senses. I felt cold.

"You okay?" I hear Jaller ask.

"Yeah… I think so." I answered, keeping my eyes closed to keep my focus on Kopaka's mind. "He's definitely dreaming."

"You looked like you were gone there," Gali said worriedly.

"How long?" I asked.

"Only a few minutes," the Toa of Water answered. I could see some activity starting up again.

"Hang on… I think it's starting again."

"The dreams?" Jaller asked.

"Yeah… hold off on Kopaka for a second. I'm checking it out."

"Be careful," Gali advised. "You're looking shaky already."

"I will, don't worry." I turned my attention back on the dreaming part of Kopaka's brain. Already, it looked to be building to feverish activity.

Ouch… my chest feels like someone just punched it really hard. Twice. I shake my head, then open my eyes. It's a dark place, again. But there's a dull, orange-ish light emanating from somewhere in the ceiling. This is a cave, no, a lair… and looking up I can see the inhabitant.

It has no shape, not really... a dark mass, a combination of shadow and a scrap heap, rapidly churning in the air while dark tentacles seem to erupt from it in all directions. I quickly look over my gear; somehow I only have one sword, and my shield has holes in it, but both seem to be otherwise okay. Well equipped, apparently, I move forward, ready to face our foe again. More Toa emerge from the darkness, all looking somewhat battered but otherwise okay, and ready to fight. They… they look somewhat like the Toa Nuva, but different. Their masks, their build, they bear similarities, but they seem equipped with neither the armor nor the weapons that I have seen before. Together, all of us have the dark entity surrounded.

"You are weak," a thunderous, guttural voice seems to shout from all directions. "I could create better from nothing." A shadowy pillar suddenly plunges down towards the ground from the bizarre aberration, splitting into six individual beams near the ground. Each beam is coalescing into a solid form… the form of a Toa! I don't know what to make of this: within seconds, our foe has conjured up six Toa, who appear to be mirror images of all of us, except they are darker.

"We have to take them down!" the red Toa, who I've now decided is Tahu, orders. We all ready our weapons; the shadow Toa charge at us. I face off against one wielding a shield and sword identical to mine, wearing an Akaku. He swings first, but I easily deflect the blow with my shield. However, before I can counter, he strikes again, and then again, keeping up an avalanche of sword strikes that I can barely hold off. My darker counterpart he may be, but he appears far more reckless and aggressive than I'd dare to be.

Not far off, Tahu is struggling in a similar manner with his dark opponent, who taunts him as he attacks: "Come, give in to the flame," it suggests in a dark, twisted version of Tahu's own voice. "Let it consume you and all you hold dear… I know you can feel it burning deep inside."

Suddenly, everything turns to black except for a faint red light shining down on Tahu and his opponent. For the moment, the attack on me seems to have stopped. Both Tahu and his counterpart seem frozen in position… then Tahu lowers his blade, raises his head, and closes his eyes. His shadow counterpart dives forward and… is absorbed into his chest. Seemingly knocked out, Tahu falls forward, but instead of hitting solid ground, he is swallowed by a dark sea. The red light fades, but now a dim blue light shines down in the distance above Gali facing her altered self. She stops fighting, and like Tahu absorbs her foe, then collapses into liquid ground. The light fades, but no sooner have things gone dark and a green light appears above Lewa, who does the same thing Tahu and Gali did, followed by Pohatu and Onua.

The shadowy Kopaka re-appears, looking at me just as the Kopaka I knew had done on that train, seemingly peering straight into my soul. "They do not deserve you," he says darkly. "They do not know your honor, and they will only hold you back. Leave them. Show them how cold the ice can really be." Everything fades to black again.

For a moment, I think the dream is over, but suddenly a bright light appears, shining down on a silver lake. Something breaks the surface… It's Gali, slowly rising as though she's being lifted on a platform. She looks like herself now, like Gali Nuva, but rather than regal, she looks dejected, sad, hopeless. I want to reach out, but find I have no body, no form whatsoever; I can only watch. The other Toa come rising out of the lake as well, all with their own expressions. Tahu, in particular, looks angry. Pohatu, tired. They all stop rising when their feet clear the water, and step out onto the dry shoreline, then each walk off in their own direction, away from each other and into the shadows. I move alongside Gali; now it seems like I have a body as well: I'm Kopaka Nuva again, but I am still not in control of my movement. A dark twisted version of Gali's voice, shadow Gali's voice, calls from behind her:

"You are nothing to them. They will not respect you, nor heed your warnings. Stop trying, Gali; you cannot save them from themselves. You are a mere drop in the ocean; weak, worthless, without purpose." As she walks, I can see Gali's expression change from sadness to disappointment to desperation… "No matter where you go, nothing you do will matter. So fade, Gali, fade away. There is nothing you can do." Gali's crying now, and she stops walking. Around her, I see fleeting images of her and the other Toa Nuva; Gali interrupting arguments between them, then arguing herself at their meetings… Onua appears in front of her; he looks frustrated and exhausted.

"No, you destroyed us," he says bitterly.

"No…" Gali whimpers, but Onua turns and begins to walk away, then fading into the darkness. Tahu appears, then turns and walks away in the same manner, followed by the other Toa Nuva except Kopaka; me. Gali protests, then begs: "Please, please don't go. This is not how we end!" but she can do nothing to stop them as, one by one, they all leave her behind. I want to do something, say something, to step in and show her she's not alone, but I can't. Defeated, destroyed, she sinks down onto the ground and sits there, head in hands, weeping. Then she turns to me: "Don't leave, please. Not you too." I so desperately want to help her, but I can't do anything… I… I turn away!? I try to look back, but I can't, I force myself to keep walking away even as my eyes well up with tears. Gali calls from behind me: "NO! DON'T GO! NOT YOU TOO! DON'T GO PLEASE! THIS IS NOT HOW WE END!" I keep forcing myself on with every step; her voice fades with distance, but the feelings linger. The temperature seems to be dropping around me as I find myself walking through snow… looking forward, I see the Ko-Wahi mountains. Soon, they are all around me.

I keep going, seeing creatures moving in the distance, but then the mountains and snow begin to fade again, and… what's that in the distance? Still walking, I notice a figure has appeared beside me. It's me! I mean, me, Lis! Lis… she's talking, but I somehow can't understand a word she is… I am saying. Suddenly, I extend my arm, shoving straight into her, and she fades in to thin air. How rude! I look forward again, the object that was distant now in plain view. It's the couch, the couch from downstairs, and I'm looking at it from behind. It's lit only by an elevated glowing rectangle in front of it. Gali's sitting on it, seemingly collapsed, tired… I keep approaching, moving around the side of the couch; now I see her again… she's huge. She looks like she does today, absentmindedly watching the screen while munching on what looks like one of Macku's sandwiches. She turns to me; her eyes are glazed over, but when she recognizes me they suddenly become clear. I expect her to react as she did last night, when I saw her meet Kopaka again for the first time in years, but instead her face takes on the same anguished expression I remember from her breakdown.

"Why, Kopaka, why did you leave?" she says, tearing up as she does so. I don't say anything; I want to, but I stay silent. "WHY!?" Gali continues. "You knew I needed you! You knew!" Out of the darkness behind her, Shadow Kopaka appears, apparently having taken on a Nuva form as well.

"Hello," he greets me in that sick, twisted voice. "Remember me?" He grins as Gali looks to me, desperately, unaware of the monster behind her. I want to pull out my sword, charge, punch him, do anything, but I can't move. "Of course you do," the dark Toa continues as he leans down towards Gali. "I am you." He grins, then turns to the trapped Toa of Water. "Tell him, dear."

"You knew," Gali says to me, trembling. "You knew you shouldn't have left. Why did you? WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME!?" she begged. "I NEEDED YOU!" Shadow Kopaka's eyes flash bright red as he stands up. He walks around Gali and towards me.

"Look at her now," he says as Gali turns back to the screen and begins to blow up even more. "Did I not tell you she would only slow you down?" the dark Toa continued, "Turns out I was right; it is good that you listened to me." He looks back down at Gali, who by now looks utterly helpless, so big that she probably can't even stand up anymore… "Well done, Kopaka" he grins as everything except his face slowly fades away. His eyes are still staring right through me. "Very. Well. Done."

I… I can't take it anymore. "NO!"

I opened my eyes; I was standing, trembling, with sweat running down my forehead, breathing heavily. Gali and Jaller were both looking at me with stunned looks on their faces.

"Lis! What is it?" Gali asked, clearly concerned. I didn't get a chance to answer before Kopaka awoke and bolted up into a sitting position.

"AAARRGH!"


	21. Chapter 21

Kopaka's eyes were wide open, and I could see the flash of panic akin to that of a cornered animal. For a moment, I feared he might kick into a fight-or-flight response.

"It's okay! It's okay!" Gali turned to her brother, raising her hands slightly, trying to calm him down. On the other side, however, Jaller looked about to pull out his sword, and he was holding Kopaka's detached lower right leg. In between them, I stood, still all but frozen in position as I tried to recollect myself; shaking and with what I imagine was a look of terror on my face, I definitely didn't look good.

Luckily, Kopaka's habit of checking himself kicked in; he looked around, still obviously unnerved, but after a few seconds his rational brain took over and his face returned to its typical, neutral expression. "I believe… I am not supposed to be awake right now," he said, his voice still revealing a tremble.

"No, you're not!" Jaller exclaimed, still on edge. He turned to me. "What was that!?"

"I… I saw his dream," I stammered.

"Are you okay?" Gali asked, concerned. I looked to Kopaka, whose had mind telepathed agitation the moment I mentioned seeing his dream, then back to Gali.

"Yeah…" I reasserted myself. "Yeah, I think I'll be okay."

"You look like you've seen ghosts," Gali noted.

"I… I think I kind of did," I said, still with the image of the shadow Kopaka in my head.

"Excuse me," Kopaka got our attention. He pointed at the broken-off leg that Jaller was holding. "Do you need to be in here to work on that?"

"Come to think of it, no." Jaller answered. "Not until we put you back together."

"And you," Kopaka turned to Gali, "is your presence required at this time?"

"I'm stopping you from bleeding out," Gali pointed at where the leg had been broken off, just below the knee, where an open blood channel was curiously dry. Kopaka leant forward and inspected the spot, then reached forward and covered the open channel with his hand, freezing a clump of ice over it to seal it.

"That should hold it," he asserted. "Now, I would like to have a word alone with Lis."

"No problem," Jaller said curtly as he got up, then made his way around me and out of the room.

"You sure?" Gali asked.

"You know me to kid?" Kopaka said, sounding moody even by his standards.

"Okay," Gali sighed as, with considerable effort, she got to her feet. "But call me if anything happens with that." Kopaka nodded, after which Gali departed the room. I stood, waiting for Kopaka to say something, but he waited in silence for a good thirty seconds as the Toa of Water audibly made her way down the stairs.

"Close the door," he finally instructed. I obliged, then returned to my position standing at the foot of the bed. Again, Kopaka paused for a moment, but already he had adopted that piercing gaze again, much to my discomfort.

"Look…" I began, "I didn't mean to get so caught up..."

"WHAT IN KARZAHNI'S NAME MADE YOU THINK YOU HAD THE RIGHT TO DO THAT!?" Kopaka thundered at me. His forceful outburst caught me by surprise; dumbfounded, I couldn't muster an immediate reply. "I told you certain things are to be left hidden," he continued, "and you blatantly disregard it!"

"Gali told me to!" I blurted out. Kopaka didn't believe me. "I mean, she said you looked uncomfortable," I elaborated, "so I blocked out the pain just like I was supposed to, but it was those dreams that were causing you pain. I told her I'd check it out!"

"One's dreams are meant to be private." Kopaka contended, sounding calmer but no less agitated. "Especially so when they are influenced by mind-altering substances."

"I know, okay? I'm sorry!" I apologized. "I didn't mean to… to get caught up like I did."

Kopaka's eyes remained fixed on me. "You did not mean to," he said sternly. "You mean to say that you were not prepared for what you saw."

"Well, should I have been?" I asked, exasperated. "Y-You saw what I saw, right? The… the twisted monsters, the evil Toa."

"The shadow Toa, they are ancient history now," Kopaka dismissed. "Mere illusions, nothing important."

"Not important?" I was staggered.

"We dealt with them," Kopaka explained. "They are long gone, if they even existed in the first place."

I thought for a moment. "But, they looked real… Yours claimed to still be a part of you."

"What you saw was a drug-induced nightmare," Kopaka reminded me. "Do not expect it to be accurate. In fact, consider it false."

"You're sure?" I couldn't just believe that there was no significance to these dreams whatsoever. They had hit far too hard and close for that.

"I am," Kopaka asserted. "Refrain from looking into my dreams again, or there will be consequences." I couldn't imagine what those consequences might have been, but felt inclined to believe him.

"Okay, I won't do it again," I agreed. "But if you think there's no meaning behind what we saw, you're wrong."

"Believe what you will," Kopaka said coldly, "but I will be awake for the rest of this procedure."

"Fine…" I acquiesced. "I'll tell Gali and Jaller." I turned and headed out into the hallway. Kopaka seemed awfully eager to shut down the dreams as anything of value, but that only reinforced the notion that there really was some meaning behind them. No, I didn't believe that they were mere drugged hallucinations; they reflected deeper feelings, exactly those that Kopaka worked so hard to suppress, and if any in particular stood out, it was guilt. Guilt about Gali, about leaving her when he was her last rope, about helping to push her over the edge. I couldn't decide whether he was really the one responsible for it, but he had been the last to walk out of that room, the last to turn away. And the guilt proved that Tahu was right; for all his pretenses, the way he deluded himself and others, Kopaka did care, something that his darker side, shadow Toa or not, tried desperately to cover up.

I found Gali sitting on a couch in the living room with a drink and a large bowl filled with some kind of fried snack food, watching a news broadcast on the telescreen.

"Hey," I greeted as I took the chair next to her.

"How are you doing?" she looked up, still concerned.

"Shaken a bit, to be honest."

"He was angry, wasn't he?" she said somberly.

"He believes I invaded his privacy by looking into those dreams," I explained, "and yeah, he was angry about it."

"It was necessary," Gali reassured me. "No matter what he says, you were right to look into it, even if it was a risk."

"Yeah…" I sighed. Both of us were quiet for a moment, but then I remembered something. "I have a question."

"Go ahead," Gali invited.

"Did you ever use a nova blast?" The question clearly surprised Gali.

"Nova blast?" she asked. "Well, yes… once. Why do you ask?"

"The first dream… I think I saw it," I continued. "You were facing some kind of gigantic evil creature in a cave, a lab of some sort."

"Makuta Icarax," Gali said, shuddering as she remembered the name. "Stronger than Teridax, and several times more ferocious." She paused, trying to recall more. "We were sent to retrieve a staff," she continued, "the staff of Artakha. Icarax had stolen it, and we tracked him to Karzahni."

"The confrontation didn't go well, did it?"

"We were struck down, one by one," Gali said quietly. "The nova blast… it was my last ditch option." She sighed; this wasn't a pleasant memory. "Sorry, but… you said you saw me do it? In Kopaka's dream?"

"Yeah. He saw it, too," I recalled. "He even jumped in with his shield, blocking one of the chain strikes while you were charging."

Gali looked rather perplexed. "Chains? What chains?"

"The flaming chains," I explained. "Icarax almost hit you while you were charging the nova blast, but Kopaka blocked him. Then he used ice to freeze over Icarax's eyes, so he couldn't see. You don't remember?"

"No." Gali shook her head. "Flaming chains? Icarax didn't have any of those… And my brothers were all knocked out; they only knew about the nova blast when I told them afterwards."

"Then… who did I see?" I asked.

"I'm not sure." Gali pondered what beings she'd heard of that used flaming chains.

"He had a weird mask, too," I elaborated, "like it was made from scrap metal, or a few masks welded together."

Gali's face turned bleak. "I think I know who you're talking about."

"Who?"

"Karzahni," she answered. "We never faced Karzahni… not in his own realm, that is."

"So, Kopaka was making things up?" I didn't take him for the imaginative type.

"Could be. I mean, it was a dream, not an exact memory," Gali reminded me.

"That's true…" I wondered what exactly its significance was, then. How much of what I'd seen was wrong? Or was it Kopaka's idealized version of events? Of course, it hadn't been the only dream either… "I, uhm, I did see something else," I continued, unsure of how to approach the second one.

"What was it?" Gali asked curiously.

"Well, it might be a bit personal," I said, still hesitant, "but… was there ever such a thing as shadow Toa?"

"Shadow Toa?" Gali said, somewhat shocked. "Yes… but they were illusions, created by Makuta Teridax."

"So Kopaka told me," I continued, "but I saw them. In his second dream, that is."

"That's… that's odd." Gali's voice had weakened in tone; clearly the shadow Toa were an uncomfortable topic for her as well. "That was ages ago, back on Mata Nui. They… they were created by the Makuta… dark versions of ourselves for us to fight."

"How did you beat them?" I wondered.

"We… we realized that they were just mirrors… mirror versions of ourselves," Gali said, taking a sip from her drink to steady herself. "When we accepted that, they… we absorbed them… and they were gone."

"I saw that," I acknowledged, "but I still saw shadow Kopaka after that… he was taunting Kopaka."

"They did do that… all of them."

"He was still doing it after he was absorbed, though," I continued. "Like he was still there."

"That's not possible…" Gali said it but her reaction confirmed that she didn't fully believe it. "They, they're gone. Even the Makuta that created them no longer exists."

I remembered hearing shadow Gali's voice… had Kopaka's dream been accurate in that regard? "I'm sorry, and I know this is hard, but… do you remember what your shadow Toa said to you?" I asked.

"Yes…" Gali sighed, lowering her head as she gathered her thoughts. When she looked up at me again, her expression had changed. Rather than shocked, she looked troubled, sad. "She… she said I couldn't do anything about the other Toa," she began, "that I couldn't do anything at all… She told me I was worthless, that I should have given up, t-that nothing I could do… nothing would matter." She choked and teared up as she recalled her vicious counterpart.

"It's okay…" I reached in, trying to comfort her. "That's… that's all I need to know." As far as I was concerned, that confirmed it; Kopaka's dream had been right as far as shadow Gali was concerned, much to my dismay. We sat there for a bit as Gali recollected herself.

"Sorry…" she said, "it's… it's difficult. They were horrible."

"I know."

"Y-you said the shadow Toa… they were in his dream? All of them?"

"Yes, they were… I saw you fighting them, absorbing them… and I heard what they said."

"I'm sorry," Gali said, "sorry for making you go in there… You shouldn't have had to see that."

"It's fine," I assured her. "I'm sure they're long gone. Besides, I wanted to check it out, remember?"

"That's true… that you did." She gave a meek smile; I did the same. After a moment, realizing the absurdity of our now shared experience, we chuckled. There was a certain relief; we'd seen bad things, but hey, we made it through, and here we were…

"You did warn him about the dreams," I reminded her. "He was pretty shaken too."

"True," she smiled. "You know, I wonder…" she paused to think for a moment. "How exactly did you end up with him anyway? You seem to be the one person that can stand him."

"Probably true," I admitted. "I basically walked into him in Ko-Koro-Nuva… he was coming down from the mountains, he looked hurt, and I was curious, you know? I mean, he was wearing a cloak, so I couldn't see who he was, and he looked hurt."

"So you followed him," Gali nodded.

"Yeah… he boarded the train north, and I didn't really have any place to go, so… I went with him. We talked on that train, and I figured it'd be interesting to stay with him for a while, to learn something about, well… being a Toa."

"Makes sense," Gali agreed.

"Yeah…" I reflected. "A lot has happened the last four days. He's told me a lot of things, too, about history and such."

"Well, you've accomplished something pretty amazing, then," Gali noted. I looked to her, wondering what she was referring to. She explained: "You've managed to get Kopaka to tolerate you for four days on end." We laughed; she was right. Over the last few days, I'd seen Kopaka being grumpy and distant to just about everyone, but somehow he'd allowed me to stick around.

"Well, he did try to get rid of me once," I remembered, "and he did make the point multiple times that I didn't have any obligation to stay with him… but yeah, here I am."

"Maybe he sees something in you," Gali said, "but I don't know what that might be."

"Maybe…" I sighed, relaxing. "I mean, he's kind of been teaching me, I guess…"

"Educating the future generation," Gali remarked. "Not something I imagined him doing, but hey, maybe he just wants company after all those years alone." We looked at each other, then burst into laughter again. Kopaka? Looking for company? Yeah right…

"What's going on here?" Jaller appeared in the doorway, followed closely behind by Hahli.

"Gali?" Hahli looked surprised, then stepped forward, noticing the bowl on the table. "Already?" she asked. The connotation was obvious.

"Kopaka asked them to leave for a while," I explained.

"Did he, now…" Hahli turned to Jaller, then noticed the partially re-assembled leg he was holding onto. "You've got his leg!?"

"I'm working on it," Jaller said. I noticed the leg's armor had already been largely bent back into something resembling its original shape.

"It looks better already," I observed.

"Well, we were right," Jaller said to Gali. "Not much we can do about the ankle, but this section is pretty much done otherwise. It goes a lot quicker when you don't have to worry about the person it's attached to."

"You should remember that for the next time Tahu shows up," I quipped, getting a chuckle from Gali and a restrained smile from Jaller.

"On a more serious note, you might want to go and re-attach it," Hahli pointed out.

"That's the plan," Gali informed her.

"I'm pretty sure Kopaka is ready whenever," I said. "He said he'd rather be awake this time, though."

"Of course he does…" Gali mumbled as she prepared to get up.

"Awake? For this?" Jaller didn't look all that excited about the prospect.

"Yup… that's Kopaka." Gali sighed after she got to her feet.

"Probably trying to prove how strong he is," Hahli said sarcastically. Gali, Jaller, and I momentarily exchanged looks.

"Let's go with that," Gali said as she started around the table, grabbing a handful from the bowl along the way as Hahli and Jaller looked on disapprovingly. "Shall we?" the older Toa gestured towards the hallway.

Jaller turned and quickly made his way to the hallway and the stairs, slightly shaking his head 'no' as he mumbled something to himself. Gali and I followed, the former either oblivious to or ignoring the apprehensive look on Hahli's face as the Toa Nuva waddled past.

Heading back upstairs, I thought back to the Gali I'd seen in Kopaka's second dream… from Macku's description and the memories I'd seen from Kopaka, it had certainly been an accurate portrayal, yet I found it scarcely believable that I'd just been talking to, joking, and bonding with that same Toa. Gali seemed all at once lively, enthusiastic, concerned about her brother… not at all the depressed, apathetic shell of her former self that Macku had described and the vision had showed. Was it all a shallow façade, or was her confidence just shattered so easily that she inevitably collapsed back into that downward spiral the moment her services weren't needed anymore? And if that was the case, what would happen after we fixed Kopaka's leg? He clearly wanted to leave, and with his leg put back together, he totally could, possibly taking Gali's one reason to come alive with him. I noticed that, by the time we reached the room, Gali's mood had fallen considerably as well; it had become tainted, once again, with a nervous edge, and it wasn't just about the surgery…

Was she thinking the same thing I was?


	22. Chapter 22

"Good news!" Jaller announced as he entered the room ahead of Gali and me. I was wondering where the sudden rush of euphoria had come from, but he answered my question before I could ask it; "This is ready to be re-attached," he continued, holding up Kopaka's severed leg, "and it's not even nine o'clock yet!" Gali and I entered the room.

"How are you feeling?" Gali asked the Toa of Ice, who'd apparently been waiting patiently for us to return.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes at Kopaka's usual answer.

"Unfortunately, it looks like your ankle won't be working again," Jaller continued his presentation, "but other than that, this is as good as new." Comically enthusiastic he may have been, but I couldn't say the leg looked 'good as new.' Functional, yes, but it was also abundantly clear that Jaller really wanted to get this over with in good time.

"You're sure you want to be awake for this?" Gali asked. "It will be painful."

"I can't do much about pain signals when you're awake," I added. "Too much noise."

"I will manage," Kopaka said calmly. He'd probably been mentally preparing himself already, knowing his penchant for planning ahead.

"Okay then, let's begin." Jaller said as he positioned himself at the foot of the bed, motioning for me to step aside. Gali sat down on the chair beside the bed and focused in on the blood channels leading down to the point where Kopaka's leg was severed.

"I've got the blood flow stopped," she informed us.

"Wonderful." Jaller reached and put his hand against the chunk of ice covering the end of the blood channel. Adding heat, he melted it in a matter of seconds, but thanks to Gali no blood came rushing out. Jaller looked up to Kopaka. "Ready?" he asked. The Toa of Ice nodded, to which Jaller placed his hands on the exposed bone on both the attached and severed parts of Kopaka's leg, channeling heat to bring them up to welding temperature.

Kopaka remained stoic at first, blocking out or managing the pain as best he could, but as Jaller got to the point where things began to glow red, signs of stress began to show on the old Toa's face. He clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, and at one point grimaced for a moment before reasserting his expression again. Gali looked on with concern; I tried to focus in on Kopaka's mind to help block out some of the pain, but it was such a jumble of activity that I found it hard to get anywhere. Nevertheless, I kept trying, but this time I kept my eyes open to avoid getting caught up in his thoughts again.

"Almost there," Jaller said after he'd been heating things for about ten minutes. In spite of my help, I could tell Kopaka was in pain that I personally would have considered unbearable, and even he couldn't conceal that as every muscle in his body contracted; his way of blocking out the opportunity for any reflex to kick in and pull his leg 'out of the fire. "Okay, this should be hot enough," Jaller decided. The edges of the broken bone gave off a bright yellow, almost white light. "Gali, can you hold down his leg?" Jaller asked, motioning towards Kopaka's right thigh. "This'll hurt, but I can't afford him moving while I do it."

"Of course." Gali got up and placed her hands on top of Kopaka's thigh, then leant forward, pressing down a considerable weight on the leg and effectively holding it in place with a vice grip.

"Ready?" Jaller asked. Gali and Kopaka both nodded 'yes,' though Kopaka did so with significant difficulty. Jaller lined up the lower leg with what bone was still attached to the knee. Satisfied with the alignment, he counted down: "3… 2… 1…" and shoved leg forward when he reached his unspoken '0.' He pushed hard, forcing the two hot ends of the bone together to start the melding process. Kopaka grimaced and let out a forced grunt, keeping himself from howling out in pain as his body jerked in response to the thunderbolt of pain signals shooting up his leg. With Gali holding it down, however, he couldn't move it, even as Jaller kept pushing to meld the metal further. Once he was satisfied with that, the Toa of Fire began squeezing the joint to complete the weld… after about a minute of shoving, prodding, shaping, and periodically checking the alignment, he seemed satisfied.

"Gali, water. Now!" he ordered. Gali obliged, moving one of her hands to above the still glowing joint and creating a bubble of water to envelop it whole. With a loud hissing sound, the bubble evaporated, but Gali continued to replenish it, rapidly cooling the metal down. Within seconds, it had cooled to where it had stopped glowing. Gali recalled her bubble as Jaller inspected the weld. The metal was still hot and discolored, and the bone's surface was somewhat uneven. It looked strong, however, and above all, straight. Jaller put Kopaka's legs together, checking the length. They appeared to be exactly even.

"Well, I think that's just about perfect," he declared.

"You feel it?" Gali asked Kopaka, who was no longer having to concentrate all his efforts on not giving in to the pain. I'd drawn back as well, my presence in Kopaka's mind no longer necessary.

"Yes," he answered, looking down at the reattached leg.

"Good." Gali stepped back. "Blood should be flowing into it now," she assured him.

"It's still cooling down," Jaller advised, "but it should be good for the rest of you to touch pretty soon." We waited a minute while he kept a close eye on the weld, watching for any cracks or imperfections, but nothing bad happened.

"Keep an eye on it; I'll go get some oil for that knee." He stood up and headed downstairs while Gali and I watched to make sure there were no leaks anywhere along the bone or in the foot. After a minute or two of nothing happening, Gali declared the re-attachment a success. Kopaka wasn't one for celebrating, so she and started fiting the loose muscle strands over the core structure, carefully aligning them to match Kopaka's other, undamaged leg.

"It may be a little while before everything is fully reconnected, but all of these should still work, and they'll get better over time," she explained, referring to the dark, dried-up muscle strands. Jaller soon returned with a squeeze bottle with oil in it.

"About that knee," he pointed at Kopaka's right knee. "It's going to need a few drops of this."

"I will take care of it." Having recovered from the agonizing experience of getting his leg re-attached, Kopaka sat up and took the oil from Jaller, then proceeded to apply it to his knee by squeezing drops of oil onto the seams of the joint and then allowing it to slowly sink in. Jaller leant down to inspect the weld one last time; it had now cooled down, and was still clean of the imperfections he'd worried about.

"Okay, then…" he yawned. "I've got an early guard review for tomorrow, so unless you need me to weld something else shut I'd like to call it a night."

"This should be all," Gali said, though she didn't sound particularly excited about it.

"Great." Jaller said. "Goodnight then."

"'night," Gali said without looking up. Kopaka nodded, I said "goodnight," and with that, Jaller headed off to one of the other bedrooms. Things were silent for a while after that; I watched as Gali meticulously aligned the muscle strands to provide as much strength as possible, while Kopaka patiently re-lubricated his knee.

"So, how long are you staying?" Gali eventually broke the silence.

"Staying?" Kopaka didn't look up.

"A couple of days, maybe, just to recover," the Toa of Water suggested. "I mean, your leg will be good after this, and we fixed your heart and lungs, but… you know, there's a few other things I could take a look at." I couldn't help but notice that she sounded a bit nervous.

"No," Kopaka said, much to Gali's disappointment. "I will leave when this is done."

"So soon?" Gali asked. "Why do you need to go so badly?"

"It is easier to travel unseen at night," Kopaka explained. "I would rather not reveal my presence to the world. The attention is only a hindrance."

"Oh… of course." Gali sighed, then continued working the leg. A minute or so later, she broke the silence again. "You're sure?" She asked. "I mean, I really should take a look at your spine, too. I noticed there was a nick in one of the links."

"Dangerous?" Kopaka asked.

"No…" Gali admitted, "but it could start to hurt. You don't want that, right?"

"I will manage," Kopaka answered. Again, there was silence for a while. Then Gali tried again.

"What about your chest? Did Jaller connect all the muscles properly?"

"No."

"Well, at least let me take a look in there, then," Gali suggested. "I mean, I'd like to wait and watch this for a while anyways," she looked the leg, now with all muscle strands properly re-attached, "just to make sure they're getting blood. Can I?"

"Do what you must," Kopaka said, clearly growing annoyed with Gali delaying his departure. After setting the oil aside, he reached for the sides of his chest plate and unscrewed the bolts that held it in place. It didn't take long to remove the piece of armor, but Gali was clearly shocked by the mess that was revealed underneath.

"He just tied them up like that!?" She exclaimed.

"It was temporary," Kopaka defended Jaller.

"Well, good thing you've got me to fix it up properly, then." Gali said. "Lie down." Kopaka did so, after which Gali proceeded to untie and untangle the muscles. "Really," she said, "these things would have died if you'd left them like this." Kopaka didn't respond, preferring to wait silently while Gali properly reconnected everything to brackets around his heartlight. It really was a tangled mess, and the fact that Kopaka had used them while they were tied up like this had only made the knots tighter. I helped out for a while.

"There," Gali said, a good half hour later, satisfied but dismayed at the same time. "That's how it's supposed to be." Kopaka moved his arms back and forth, testing the range of motion. It appeared that everything was now functioning properly, so he reached for his chest plate to re-attach it while Gali turned her attention back to his leg. "This is looking good so far," she informed him, though again there was a sadder tone to her voice than I expected. "I think… I think I can finish it up."

"At last." Kopaka mumbled under his breath. Gali didn't respond.

"Lis, would you hand me that, please?" she asked, pointing at the repaired shin guard that Jaller'd left lying on the table beside me.

"Sure." I handed it to the Toa of Water, who proceeded to line it up with its attachment points just below the knee and above the ankle.

"You know, if you have time, I'm sure we can find the parts to fix your ankle, too," she pointed out. "I mean, right now your foot's kind of fixed in place…"

"I already said I am not staying," Kopaka replied.

"Right… I guess it'll be fine." Gali knew the ankle would, at best, be a minor problem, but I could tell she was scrambling for some valid reason to keep Kopaka around for longer. She really didn't want him to leave… "Where are you going, anyways?" she asked.

"Back to where I was."

"The mountains?" she sounded concerned. Kopaka nodded. "After everything that happened up there, after all this, you want to go back?" Gali didn't get it. "For what? What do you do up there?"

"Astronomy."

"Charting stars?"

"Yes."

"But… you could do that here," Gali argued. "The knowledge towers have telescopes, really good ones, and I'm certain they would let you use them. You could even show the Matoran everything you have found out."

"No."

"Why not?" Gali continued. "I mean, you could stay around here instead of going back into those dangerous mountains, you'd have better equipment to work with… I'm sure they'll let you work alone, if you prefer."

"They would not." Kopaka seemed pretty certain about that, and he was finding Gali's continuing questions very annoying to deal with.

"But what if you get hurt out there again?" Gali asked, increasingly worried. By now, she'd stopped working on the leg and was arguing with Kopaka directly. "I mean, we've fixed you up for now, but I guarantee sooner or later something else will fail, and you probably won't be able to make your way back again. What then, brother? What happens then?"

"Then I do not return," Kopaka said coldly.

"You would die up there…" Gali stammered, "and you're okay with that?" No reply. "I'm telling you, we can stop this right now. Stay, stay here with me, with us," she pleaded, now frantic as her brother's suicidal plan dawned on her. Kopaka didn't respond, but I could tell his expression was darkening. "You and I are all that is left," Gali continued. "Lewa, Onua… they're gone. Tahu and Pohatu aren't themselves anymore. It's just you and me… Kopaka, we're the last ones, the last of the Toa Nuva! You can't walk away again, not to where you're planning to go!" She stopped and waited, hoping Kopaka would say something. He remained silent, but his eyes shot daggers. His patience had run out. Gali tried one last time: "I know you don't like it, but believe me… believe me when I can say you can't take care of yourself out there."

"That may be…" Kopaka replied at last, "…but in that I am not alone."

"What…" Gali's eyes were wide open. Kopaka's anger spiked.

"Look at yourself!" he scolded her. "You argue that I cannot take care of myself when you can barely stand under the weight of your own failing! Were it not for your mask, I would not have recognized you!" Gali shrunk back… "I remember who my sister was, and this travesty, this mockery of a Toa," Kopaka gestured at Gali's body, "this isn't her. The sister I knew is gone, and you're all that's left! How dare you call yourself one of the Toa Nuva!?" Gali was beyond shocked… she looked terrified. I'd seen all I needed, and more than I wanted to.

"That's enough!" I stepped forward and tried to interfere, but Kopaka wouldn't listen.

"How did you let yourself go like this!?" he continued. "Do you think that, just because we fulfilled our destiny, we can afford to rest on our laurels!? I still have a duty, Gali, and I will not abandon it for your satisfaction!" He stood up beside the bed, now towering over Gali, using the cane to support himself. "You are wrong," he said cruelly, looking down on the speechless Toa of Water. "There are no two Toa Nuva left. There is but one: me."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I positioned myself between Kopaka and Gali, who by this point had been reduced to tears. She didn't even try argue back… instead, she just retreated… retreated into an inner shell, cocooned away from the vicious attacks of her brother. "She saved your life!" I angrily reminded Kopaka. "She fixed your heart and stayed up all night afterwards to watch over you. She fixed your stupid leg! And what do you do!? You berate her for it!" Kopaka glared down at me, but refrained from saying anything. "You know it's true, I've seen it!" I continued. "If there's one Toa Nuva left, it's not you! It's her, and she deserves far better than you for a brother! You should be thanking her on your knees, not destroying what little of her is left!" I paused for a moment and took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. "If you've got any honor, you'll apologize to her," I ordered, "and you'll apologize right now."

"Impossible," Kopaka said through clenched teeth, clearly restraining himself. I wanted him, oh so desperately wanted him to apologize, but he blew it.

"Don't give me that, dammit! I saw you, parts of you that you so stupidly deny." I recalled Kopaka's second dream. "I know that somewhere in there you care, and that you feel guilty for everything you've done! It's eating away at you, and you just don't let yourself admit it." I really needed Kopaka to show some humanity for once; I knew it was in there. "Apologize to her, if only to ease your own conscience," I begged of him.

"I have nothing to apologize for or to."

"You're kidding." I was in disbelief, but as I turned and looked at Gali I was surprised to find that she'd gone, vanished in the heat of the argument. "Where… where'd she go?"

"Irrelevant," Kopaka said as he sat down on the edge of the bed and finished fixing the shin guard onto his leg.

"You know, I thought, just for a while there, that you actually had a shred of humanity left in you," I said, exasperated. "But… I don't know whether that shadow Kopaka really exists or not, but he's clearly got a hold on you."

"He doesn't exist…" Kopaka proceeded to argue, but he was cut off by the appearance of a furious Hahli in the doorway.

"WHAT DID YOU TELL HER!?" she demanded, marching up to Kopaka. "What in Mata Nui's name did you say to her!?"

"I told her the truth," Kopaka said coldly.

"You monster!" Hahli slapped Kopaka square in the face so hard that for a moment I thought she'd knocked his mask off. "You promised me! You promised you wouldn't bring it up!"

Incensed, Kopaka rose to his feet. The temperature in the room instantly dropped something like ten degrees. "She would not listen," he seethed, "and I swear that if you hit me again I will leave you a frozen doll without a second thought." I tried to get in between them, to put some distance between them, but with them standing face-to-face between the bed and the wall, I couldn't get in.

"Hey, that's enough!" I called out, but neither Toa was paying attention.

"Oh, you wanna go!?" Hahli challenged Kopaka. "'cause I'll fight! I'll fight to protect her from you."

"Do not fool yourself into thinking that you stand a chance!" Kopaka threatened. "You are even worse than Gali! She may have let herself fall, but you jumped voluntarily!"

"TAKE THAT BACK!" Hahli took a step back but stood in a combat ready position, with a blueish energy already forming around her hands. "Or I will blast you out, through that wall and into the street!"

"Try me," Kopaka narrowed his eyes and braced himself.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" a voice thundered from the doorway.


	23. Chapter 23

A bright orange flash startled all of us. We quickly turned to find Jaller standing in the doorway, holding a flaming sword out in front of him.

"There will be no fighting in here!" he ordered, looking around the room, taking in the sight of two Toa standing battle-ready while I'd moved back after unsuccessfully trying to interfere. It took a moment, but eventually both Kopaka and Hahli stood down. "Good." Jaller extinguished his sword and stepped forward. "Move aside," he ordered Hahli, who obliged. Now Jaller stood face to face with the Toa of Ice. "By tomorrow morning, the Turaga, the guard, and every living being in this city will know you are here," he threatened, "and I guarantee they will come looking for you. You have until then to get out of my city."

"I was planning on leaving anyway," Kopaka said coldly.

"News travels faster than trains," Jaller asserted. "By the time you reach Onu-Koro-Nuva, crowds will have swarmed the stations to meet you." That revelation clearly shocked Kopaka. For a few seconds, he stood silently, glaring at Jaller as if he was attempting to stare him down, but the captain of the guard wouldn't back off.

At last, the Toa of Ice replied: "You will do no such thing." It wasn't a threat, nor an argument; Kopaka merely stated what, to him, was fact. Or was he just hoping it was?

"Try me," was Jaller's resolute reply.

"So be it." Kopaka stepped forward, maneuvering himself around Jaller and towards the door. He maintained his stoic appearance, but underneath I could tell he was deeply worried. Jaller wasn't the type not to follow up on his promises, and this capitulation could only mean that Kopaka saw no option but to take his chances out there. The first step in improving those chances as much as possible lay in leaving without delay. Jaller, Hahli, and I followed behind him as he left the room and made his way downstairs, where we found Macku and Hewkii in the hallway.

"Kopaka?" Macku quickly stepped forward, an anxious look on her face. "Gali just went downstairs, and she didn't look good... What's going on?" The Toa of Ice marched past her without answering, followed closely by Jaller.

"He said it," Hahli curtly informed the Matoran as she, too, passed by her.

"Said what…" the realization came over Macku before she finished the question. "Oh no…"

"Don't worry, he's leaving," Jaller announced as Kopaka reached the front door. "And he won't be back."

"Whoa, hold on a minute!" Hewkii stepped forward. "What exactly did he say?"

"The full rant, I'm sure," Hahli replied.

"The full rant? As in, Tahu-style?" Hewkii questioned. He looked to Kopaka, then back to Hahli.

"Worse." Hahli glared at the Toa of Ice as he opened the door.

"I told her the truth." Kopaka grumbled, looking back over his shoulder at the Toa of Water.

"You promised me you'd keep your mouth shut!" she snapped back.

"It was for the better," Kopaka defended himself.

"Insulting her into saving herself!?" Hahli's question was accompanied by wild arm gestures. "He already tried that!" She pointed towards Jaller.

"...and so did Tahu," the latter added.

"Exactly!" Hahli continued. "Tell me, is she any better off for it!? I don't think so!"

"Then she is beyond saving," Kopaka said grimly as he turned away again.

"NO she isn't!" Hahli blurted out.

"Okay, Okay!" Hewkii stepped in again, interposing himself between the other Toa. "Can we keep it sown a bit, please?" The air was tense, but he had everyone's attention, even Kopaka's. "Now what exactly is going to happen here?" he asked Jaller.

"We're going to spread the word," the Toa of Fire replied. "Kopaka is back. Then we'll see how long it takes half this planet to find him." Kopaka was giving him a death stare, but Jaller glared back; "I'm sure their attention will be sufficient punishment for a broken promise."

"You wish." Hahli stood with her arms crossed.

"It is," Jaller confirmed.

"Look, I don't doubt it, but… can I speak to you two for a second?" Hewkii requested.

"Fine," Hahli shrugged. Jaller offered no objections.

"Great." Hewkii turned to Kopaka. "Just... wait a moment, okay?" Kopaka nodded.

"Make it quick," Jaller moaned as he reluctantly accompanied Hewkii and Hahli to the living room. I looked to Kopaka, who remained standing in the doorway, looking past me down the hall as though he was expecting someone. To my surprise, Macku appeared from downstairs, carrying Kopaka's cloak. Between the chaos and arguing, I hadn't even seen her leave.

"You'll need this," she said curtly as she handed him the garment, which he quickly put on. "Just so you know," the Ga-Matoran continued, "she won't help you again."

"I will not need her help again," Kopaka assured her.

"Well, even if you did, she won't be able to provide it anymore," Macku continued. "You were the last straw; she's lost for good. I hope you're proud of yourself."

"She was long lost already," Kopaka asserted, "thanks to you and Hahli."

"I disagree, but I guess that doesn't matter to you." Macku sighed. "I will say this: at least we tried." Tearing up, she turned and quickly headed back down the hall and up the stairs.

"You know, they really did," I informed him. "They've been trying for years to pull her out of her depression."

"Without much success," Kopaka concluded.

"It would do you well to judge based on effort every once in a while, not just results. You might just learn something."

"Nothing that matters to me." Now he was glaring at me, too. I wanted to remind him that, if I'd judged him based solely on his success in fixing himself, or his social skills, I wouldn't think very highly of him either, but at that would have implied I thought highly of him in the first place, so I held off. We waited another minute or two. Kopaka periodically turned and looked up and down the dark, quiet street outside; I feared he would just decide to walk away now, but something kept him turning back, awaiting the other Toa's return. It wasn't long before they did.

"You know, you could close the door," Hahli pointed out. "It's getting cold in here." Her suggestion elicited exactly zero response from Kopaka, which given his fondness for the cold wasn't surprising.

"Okay, there's been a change of plans," Jaller informed him, though he didn't sound all that excited about it. "You can leave, and we won't tell anyone you were here."

"Good." Kopaka didn't show it, but I could tell that inside, he was breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"...on one condition." Hewkii stepped forward. "You're coming with me."

"To what end?" Kopaka asked coldly.

"There's someone I need you to meet."

"Someone I can trust, I take it?"

"Don't worry about that," Hewkii dismissed his concern. "Even if he told anyone, they wouldn't believe him." With a heavy sigh, Kopaka agreed to the terms.

"Fine," he grumbled as he stepped aside.

Hewkii turned to Hahli: "I probably won't be back for a few hours. Tell Macku not to wait up." With that, he headed out the door. Kopaka followed, closing the door behind him. Jaller sighed.

"You know I don't agree with this," Hahli pointed out.

"Hahli, it's late, I'm tired, and I have to be up early. No arguments, not now, not after you already agreed." Jaller rubbed his eyes.

"Uhm, excuse me?" I got their attention. "Who are they going to see?"

"An old fried of Kopaka's," Hahli said. In spite of her disagreement with the plan, there was a hint of satisfaction in her voice.

"Kopaka has friends?" I wasn't sure that was possible after what had happened this evening.

"One friend," Jaller informed me. "Ever heard of Pohatu?"

"The Toa Nuva of Stone? Yeah, I've heard of him." Heard of him? I'd seen him, straight from Kopaka's memory.

"He is the only friend Kopaka's ever had, at least as far as Kopaka's concerned," Jaller continued. "He lives on the outskirts of the city. That's where they're going."

"Oh..."

"You're welcome to stay here, if you'd like," Hahli offered.

"You handle that," Jaller told her. "I'm going back to bed."

"'night, Jaller." Hahli turned and placed her hand on his shoulder for a moment. "Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks," he mumbled as he proceeded down the hallway, then up the stairs.

"Anyways, like I said, you're welcome to stay," Hahli turned her attention back to me.

"Thanks, but... I think I might actually like to see Kopaka meeting Pohatu again," I decided.

"Don't get too attached to him," Hahli warned. "He'll drop you like he has everyone else first chance he gets."

"Maybe he will," I conceded, "but I'd like to see how he does it."

Hahli smiled and extended her hand, which I shook. "Good luck then, Lis," she said. "Do stop by again sometime."

"I will," I assured her before heading out into the cool night air. Hahli stood in the doorway and waved; I returned the gesture when I reached the street. Looking west, into the city, I could see the silhouettes of Hewkii and Kopaka. I had to run to catch up to them, but it didn't take me long.

"Hi," I greeted when I reached them.

"Lis." Hewkii nodded and acknowledged my presence, but Kopaka made no such gesture. No one really seemed in the talking mood, so I kept quiet as we made our way deeper into the city. Five minutes and a few turns later, we reached a set of stairs going down into a tunnel from the side of the street, which Hewkii entered. We followed, and soon found ourselves standing in an underground room of some kind; I'd never seen anything like it. A booth in the wall at the opposite end of the room gave some clue to its identity: apparently, this was part of an underground train station.

"Three tickets to Station West," Hewkii requested at the booth. Its inhabitant, an Onu-Matoran with a distinctly dour expression, obliged, producing three tickets and writing "Station West" on them.

"Six widgets," he said in a tired monotone. Hewkii placed a ten-widget piece on the counter.

"Keep the change," he told the Onu-Matoran. We turned and left the room through a set of double doors on our right. "Underground rail line," Hewkii informed us as we stepped onto a platform. "High-tech, electrical. Just completed. Makes crossing the city a lot easier." I looked up and down the platform; on both sides, the track vanished into a barely lit tunnel. Hewkii found a small bench to sit on, while Kopaka remained standing close to the edge of the platform, waiting for the train to arrive. About fifteen minutes passed before a loud, rumbling noise heralded the arrival of the metal carriage. After it stopped and opened its doors, one tired-looking Agori disembarked; upon boarding, we were the only people in any of the three carriages besides the driver.

The train followed a vaguely circular track, stopping at two other stations before it reached Station West. The clock was closing in on eleven by the time we disembarked. Station West much resembled the one we'd embarked from in its layout, but whereas the latter had been relatively clean, this station's platform was quite dirty. Bits of trash littered the ground, and a large, crude painting of a Glatorian decorated one of the walls. Kopaka said nothing as usual, but this place did nothing to lift his spirits. I noticed that, as we crossed the platform to the exit, he seemed to plot a path around the dirtiest spots.

Emerging above ground, I found it hard to believe that we were still in the same city, such was the contrast between this neighborhood and the clean, well-kept, modern one that we'd left. These were the slums, the part of New Atero that most other people didn't get to see and didn't want to think about. Trash was piled up in the streets. The old, brick buildings had clearly been patched up numerous times, but that did nothing to conceal their dilapidated state. If Kopaka'd found the station bothersome, this place had to drive him close to panic. Nevertheless, he continued to quietly follow Hewkii as the Toa of Stone led us off the wide street and through a series of confusingly winding back alleys. Here, out of sight and away from the road, few of the houses, if they even deserved that status, had windows or even curtains, and I caught glimpses of several inhabitants as we passed by. We soon reached a slightly wider road again, where Hewkii stopped us in front of one particular house. A single-floor structure, it was somewhat larger than most of the others, but was in no better a state. A wooden crate filled with empty bottles was sitting beside the door.

"He lives here," Hewkii told Kopaka.

"Who?" the Toa of Ice demanded.

"You'll see," Hewkii said dejectedly as he stepped aside. Kopaka sighed, then stepped forward and knocked on the door. Getting no response, he looked back to Hewkii, who'd taken up a position leaning against the wall.

"He probably won't open," he said. "Just go in." Kopaka hesitated for a moment, then cracked open the door. The sound of a telescreen broadcast emanated from inside.

"Aren't you going in?" I asked Hewkii, who made no motion to follow as Kopaka entered.

"I'll wait out here," he answered. "I don't like to go in there much. Not anymore."

"Okay..." I nodded, somewhat concerned by Hewkii's apparent worry. If he didn't like to come here anymore, what purpose did bringing Kopaka serve? I made my way inside, almost walking straight into Kopaka in the process; the Toa of Ice had stopped barely clear of the doorway.

"Is he in here?" I asked as I maneuvered next to him. Kopaka didn't answer, his eyes were fixed on something across the room. A tiny telescreen, positioned about 30 feet away from us and facing the entrance, provided the only light in the room, courtesy of yet another late-night drama. Facing it was an old, reclining armchair, containing the slumped-over figure of a Toa.

I looked back towards Kopaka; I could tell he'd realized who he was in to meet the moment he'd entered his place. He took a deep breath, then stepped forward, making his way across the empty room. I stayed near the door and watched.


	24. Chapter 24

Kopaka crossed the room slowly with his eyes fixed on the figure in the chair. The whole scene reminded me much of how he'd approached Gali, but this time he didn't hesitate, didn't stop or wait to be noticed.

"Brother?" he greeted in a low, subdued tone. He got no response at first, but just as he was about to move around the chair, Pohatu raised his fist.

"Damned bunch of morons!" he yelled, referring to the scene on the telescreen, in which two of the characters were watching and commenting on a Kolhii game. "Ain't any of you *hic* ever held a kolhii stick before!?"

Kopaka halted for a moment at Pohatu's sudden outburst, but quickly reasserted himself. "Brother," he said more forcefully as he stepped forward again, entering Pohatu's view.

"Whoa! What... Who are you!?" the Toa of Stone exclaimed. Kopaka's eyes widened as they fell upon him.

"I am Kopaka, your brother…" The Toa of Ice's voice faltered. He looked Pohatu up and down.

"Brother!? Ha!..." Pohatu took a drink from the bottle in his other hand. "I have no brothers…" he said, chuckling as though that was somehow amusing. I noticed that, when he wasn't shouting, his words were slurred. That bottle likely wasn't his first for the night. Then, all of a sudden, his drunken abandon turned back to anger. "Get out of my house!" he yelled.

Kopaka stood, shocked, neither responding nor retreating; for the first time since I'd met him, he appeared to have no idea on how to proceed. Curious, I made my way across the room, almost tripping over an empty bottle lying in the darkness on the floor. Pohatu turned and locked eyes on me.

"Th…there's more of you!? Whaddaya want!? I won't buy anything, I'll tell ya right now! Scram! Get lost!" Exaggerated, uncoordinated hand gestures accompanied his drunken tirade. He took another drink. Now standing next to Kopaka, I, too, was astonished to see the state Pohatu was in. He looked dirty, haggard, and was wearing little to no armor whatsoever. His eyes were hazy, his movements clumsy. After gulping down several mouthfuls, he was dismayed to find his bottle empty. "Aw… Shit!" he cursed at it as though that might convince it to fill itself again. The bottle offered no response, so he turned his attention back to us. "I told you to bastards to get lost!" he shouted as he raised the bottle over his head, then hurled it at me. His aim wasn't much good, and rather than striking me the bottle went careening into the wall, where it shattered. "Ugh…" Pohatu looked off to where he thought he'd sent the bottle. I took a step back and looked to Kopaka to do something, anything. However, he stood as if rooted, utterly perplexed by Pohatu's behavior. This was nothing like the Toa either of us remembered.

Pohatu half-heartedly threw up his hands, sank back into his chair, and resumed watching the broadcast as though we weren't there. Recovering at last, Kopaka stepped forward and tried again: "Do you remember me, brother?" he asked earnestly.

"Whoa!" Pohatu reacted as though we'd completely vanished and reappeared again. "Who's there!?" he looked back and forth between me and Kopaka. "Wait…. d-didn't I tell you two to beat it!?"

"We're not here to sell you anything," I attempted to pacify him.

"Go to Karzahni," Pohatu scoffed at me, then looked back to Kopaka. For a moment, he seemed to try and focus in on the Toa of Ice, then his expression mellowed somewhat. "You," he gestured, "d-don't I know you from somewhere?"

"I believe that you do," Kopaka said.

"I knew…" Pohatu's sentence was cut short by a loud belch. "I-I knew a guy who looked just like you," he smirked. "A T-Toa," he continued. "A - *hic*- a prick he was, too… would'a made a Makuta look nice!" he laughed, but the laughter quickly descended into a harsh coughing fit. Kopaka retreated somewhat as Pohatu hacked up some kind of mucoid substance, which he re-swallowed afterwards. The Toa of Stone leant back, staring up at the ceiling in drunken satisfaction. "…that bastard left years ago…" He remained silent for a few seconds, then gestured at Kopaka: "Y-you should go find him… he'd love your company."

"Who?" Kopaka asked. His voice had taken on a distinctly cooler tone.

"Ah…" Pohatu contorted his face as though in deep thought. "Meh… I don't remember the name."

"Was it Kopaka?" the Toa of Ice asked.

"Kopaka! Yes, Kopaka!" Pohatu blurted out. "That was him! Hehehe…."

"I know Kopaka."

"You do, huh?" Pohatu leant forward and locked eyes with Kopaka, though he appeared to have a hard time focusing. He looked him up and down. "Nah!" he eventually concluded. "The guy's stone dead, I'm sure." He laughed again, but his jovial mood quickly seemed to drop. "You… you wanna know the worst part?" he slurred.

"Do tell," Kopaka said coldly.

"I - *hic* - I never told him… never told him how much of an ass he was!" Pohatu laughed out loud. Kopaka assumed a scornful gaze, clearly not amused by his brother's delirium. Pohatu took no notice as he turned and rummaged around the ground behind the chair, producing a fresh bottle of what looked like a rather stiff drink. After some uncoordinated picking at the cork, he managed to open it and take a few swigs. Indignant, Kopaka turned and walked back across the room and out the door, kicking a bottle aside along the way. I turned to follow, but Pohatu gestured at me. "You… *hic*… You look nice... I swear, if we were meatos…" Pohatu's voice trailed off us he looked me up and down, making me feel profoundly uncomfortable. I quickly followed Kopaka as Pohatu took to his bottle again.

"Why am I here?" Kopaka curtly asked Hewkii, who'd been waiting outside.

"I figured you should see what you left behind," the latter replied. "All of it."

"That is not Pohatu!" Kopaka pointed inside.

"Maybe not," Hewkii admitted, "but it is what's left of him."

"Your point?"

Toa of Stone sighed. "I stop by here every few days… to take care of him, you know? Half the time, he doesn't remember who I am, yet he always asks for you. Any idea why?"

"He does not recognize me now," Kopaka informed him. "How does he ask for me?"

"He does whenever he's not… not this far gone," Hewkii said. "I figure he thinks you can help him somehow, when he's actually thinking. I've asked him why he needs to see you, but he won't tell me. So… maybe you know something I don't." Kopaka waited for a moment, then turned and walked back inside past me. He staunchly marched up and positioned himself between Pohatu and the telescreen.

"Hey, I wanna see that!" the Toa of Stone protested, but Kopaka wouldn't move.

"I am Kopaka," he said curtly. "Your brother. You asked for me. Why?"

"Kopaka?... who's Kopaka?" Pohatu gave him a blank stare.

"You know who I am," Kopaka continued. "You just told those two people, remember?"

"I don't know any two people…" Pohatu smiled. "No one comes here!" He laughed himself into a coughing fit again. Kopaka waited until he was done.

"You believed they were here to sell you things," he continued. "You told one of them they looked like Kopaka. Like me."

"No, no I didn't!" Pohatu said with a manic grin on his face.

"Yes, you did!" Kopaka's patience was wearing thin.

"Whatever… I don't remember…" Pohatu sank back into his chair, but the sound of an explosion from the telescreen immediately jolted him upright again. "Move, move! I want to see this!" He waved his hand, gesturing for Kopaka to step aside. He didn't, and by the sound of things the explosion had ended. "Aw c'mon…" Pohatu lifted up his bottle again. Suddenly, with surprising speed, Kopaka reached forward and backhanded the bottle so hard that it flew out of the Toa's hand and shattered against the opposite wall.

"You have had enough of that!" he chided the stunned Pohatu. Kopaka was now practically leaning over his brother.

"Wha… whaddaya do that for?" the latter said hazily. "You… you know you're gonna have to *hic* get me another one for that, right?" He pointed at Kopaka while the latter loomed over him, growing more agitated by the second.

"Look at me, brother," he insisted. "Look!" he pointed at his own mask. "You remember, you must remember something, anything!" This wasn't Kopaka's usual coolheaded argument; it sounded more like a desperate, if angry plea. "YOU wanted me here, brother!" he continued to the stunned Pohatu. "Tell me what you want me for! What do you need me to do!?"

"I don't know!" Pohatu insisted, then chuckled again as though the whole situation had him very amused. "Stop… stop asking, okay? Really, I'm *hic* fine…" After a tense few seconds, Kopaka backed off.

"No, brother…" he said, his voice wavering. "You are not fine."

"No, really… I'm fine…just go…" Pohatu murmured as a drunken stupor started to overtake him.

"No." Kopaka said as he finally stepped aside. However, instead of walking out like I expected him to, he positioned himself next to the chair, then leant down again. Standing halfway across the room, I couldn't see what he was doing, but then he stood up... carrying Pohatu in his arms.

"HEY!" the unwelcomed move jolted Pohatu awake, if that was the right word. "Put me down, damn you!" he insisted as he struggled, but his uncoordinated arm flailing posed little problem for Kopaka, and for some reason his legs weren't moving at all. Without saying another word, Kopaka made his way over to the side of the room, where an open doorway led to a small bedroom. "You can't do this!" Pohatu protested. "I want to see my show! And get *hic* get me another damn drink!"

Kopaka laid the struggling Pohatu down on the bed. "Rest, brother," he said quietly.

"I ain't listening to anything you tell me!" the furious Toa proclaimed, sitting up by supporting himself on one arm while shaking a fist with the other. Kopaka stood up, backed off and lowered his head. When he looked up again, he'd switched out his Akaku for yet another mask.

"Sleep, brother," he said in a surprisingly tender, melancholy voice. I could tell the mask was activated.

"You don't listen, do ya!?" Pohatu continued. "I told you get me a drink!"

"Sleep." Kopaka repeated. There was no authority in his voice; in fact, it was wavering, but somehow the command got through to Pohatu, who, without another word, lowered himself down from half-seated to lying on the bed. Seconds later, he was fast asleep. Kopaka stood, looking down at his brother, not saying anything. Standing in the bedroom entrance, I was struck by how different he seemed all of the sudden… he didn't look angry or frustrated as he had with Hewkii, Jaller, and Hahli, nor disappointed as he had with Gali; with Pohatu, he looked gravely concerned, a feeling I hadn't thought possible from him until fifteen minutes before. Thinking back to their goodbye at that last meeting, I could only conclude that there was something to his relationship with Pohatu that didn't exist between him and any of the other Toa. Perhaps Jaller was right; Pohatu was Kopaka's only friend, the only one who could elicit such concern from the otherwise detached Toa of Ice.

An old, rickety chair stood in the corner of the bedroom. Kopaka sat down on it, and still watching his brother closely. I waited a few minutes, curious as to what exactly he planned to do now. Eventually, I got bored and decided to ask him directly.

"So, are you going to watch over him all night?"

"Yes."

"But… I thought you couldn't wait to leave," I reminded him.

"His mind may be clearer come morning," Kopaka said quietly. "Perhaps then he will remember something."

"Ah…"

"If you are looking for something to do," he suggested, "go see if he has any large bowls or pots."

"Why?"

"We might need them."

"Okay…" I figured that, whatever the purpose of the pots was, I'd probably see it sooner or later. I stepped back into the living room and turned right, where a small kitchen was attached. It was cleaner than I'd remembered Tahu's to be, but only because Pohatu appeared to own very few dishes of any kind. Searching through the few cupboards, I soon found a reasonably sized, if dirty cooking pot, which I took back to Kopaka.

"This is all he has," I informed him.

"It should do." Kopaka set the pot down beside him.

"Anything else you'll need?" I wondered.

"The telescreen," Kopaka answered. "Turn it off." The telescreen was still broadcasting the noise of whatever program it was on all through the house. I headed back into the living room and turned on a standing lamp in the corner to not plunge the room into darkness when I turned off the telescreen. After turning off the broadcast, I looked around the room. It was a mess… that bottle I'd tripped over coming in was far from the only one scattered around the floor, not to mention the fact that, in two areas by opposite walls, the carpet was covered in broken glass. Everything, including the reclining chair that besides the table and telescreen made up the only furniture, was covered in stains of one kind or another, and it all reeked of alcohol. In one corner, I noticed a rusty-looking wheelchair. The telescreen was surrounded by a ton of shelves bolted into the wall. They were all empty and covered in dust, except one, on which a faded trophy stood. It was kolhii trophy, a pillar topped by a kolhii stick and ball, and it was gold. I picked it up to polish off some of the dust. Its plaque read:

Toa Pohatu Nuva

Champion

100th Great Kolhii Tournament, Spherus Magna, 500 A.R.

"Nice, isn't it?" I turned to find Hewkii standing in the front doorway.

"Oh… yes, it is." I quickly put the trophy back on its shelf.

"Those shelves used to be filled with 'm." Hewkii gestured as he walked in.

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"Pohatu sold them for more drinks. The trophies never did mean much to him."

"Oh…"

"I noticed the noise stopped," Hewkii continued. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," I assured him. "Kopaka put Pohatu in bed, and he's watching over him now."

"He is, eh?" Hewkii looked into the bedroom for a moment, then turned back to me. "So, he does care," he said with more than a hint of surprise.

"Yes, amazingly, he does" I said quietly, not wanting Kopaka to hear.

"That, or he's curious too," Hewkii said as he made his way back to the front door.

"Curious about what?" I followed him.

"Curious about why Pohatu's asking for him," Hewkii replied.

"Could be." We stepped outside. "I think there's more to it, though," I admitted.

"I hope you're right about that." We stopped in the front yard, where Hewkii picked up the crate with bottles. "But if he's staying around tonight, I'm heading home."

"Okay… just, one last thing."

"Hm?" Hewkii waited.

"What happened with Gali?" I asked. "She just vanished from where I was."

Hewkii's expression grew somber. "Macku and I just got home, and we saw her come down," he said. "She was in a hurry, she was crying… she basically fled back to her basement room; exactly what happens every time Tahu comes by and bullies her."

"I'm sorry…"

"Not your fault. Tahu, Kopaka, they don't understand what changed about her," Hewkii explained. "They think what she needs is tough love, a jolt to break her out of that cycle she's stuck in. If Gali was still the same Toa she was back then, that might have worked, for all I know…" he sighed.

"She's changed." I agreed.

"Look," Hewkii continued, "Hahli, Macku, Jaller, myself… we've all watched it happen time and time again, and every time Gali ends up worse. Jaller thinks that we should kick her out, force her to get back on her feet; Hahli and Macku want to take care of her, 'cause she saved them back in the day... I hate to say it, but I think Gali's given up, and Tahu and Kopaka have only made it worse. Jaller's solution would do the same thing, whereas Hahli and Macku are just helping her down. They don't mean to, but they are. They're half the reason she got so big."

"And you?" I asked.

"Me? I've got my own broken Toa to worry about." Hewkii nodded towards the house.

"What happened to him?" I asked. "I mean, he used to be kolhii champion. How'd he end up like this?"

Hewkii sighed and waited for a moment, recalling past events. "He pushed too hard," he said, "he pushed his body past breaking point. We're all getting older, you know, but he just kept pushing his game… I don't think he could imagine it ever ending, that his body would give out on him eventually. But he had to keep pulling those stunts, those spectacular moves on the field, and one game, his spine just said "no.""

"His legs, the wheelchair… is that why?"

"Yep. Gali helped him, much as she could, but there's only so much you can fix," Hewkii was choking up a bit, remembering a difficult time. "He's still in constant pain, which is why he started drinking. He got angry, he got bitter… cursed out Gali a few times, after which she didn't dare visit him anymore. From then on, it was just a freefall down to… well, where he is now." Hewkii looked frustrated, but not with me. His expression contorted as though he was fighting back tears. "He was my hero once… still is, sometimes, when I forget what he's like now."

"I'm sure it was hard," I empathized. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something so painful."

"No, it's... it's okay." Hewkii collected himself. "They were all heroes, but I'm afraid there's not much we can do for them now, besides making sure that they will be remembered for who they were, not what they've become."

"I'm sure you'll manage that," I assured him, somewhat shaken myself. His assessment of the situation was somber, but I feared it was accurate. We stood quietly for a few seconds.

"Look, if you want, you're still welcome to stay with us," Hewkii offered. "Better than spending the night out here."

"Thanks, but I'll stay," I declined. "I think Kopaka won't stay around for much longer, and I've still got questions for him."

"Don't we all?" Hewkii shrugged. "Well, in that case, 'till we meet again." He nodded, smiled, then turned to head back to the station.

"Good night!" I called after him, watching until he turned back into the side alley from which we'd entered the street before turning and heading back inside myself.


	25. Chapter 25

Back inside, I found Kopaka still watching over Pohatu. With little better to do, I decided to clean up the place a bit, since clearly no one had done so for years. I started by picking up every empty bottle I could find and stacking them by the door, for want of a container. In one of the kitchen cabinets, I found a brush and pan and set about cleaning up the remnants of the two bottles that had met their end against the walls. I was about done with the first of them when a retching noise in the bedroom got my attention.

"Everything okay?" I quickly entered to find Kopaka standing next to the bed, supporting a convulsing Pohatu in a half-seated position. He made sure the Toa of Stone's head was over the pot, which he was holding ready. "What's happening to him!?" Before Kopaka could answer, Pohatu hurled and vomited up the liquid remnants of his dinner into the pot. "Ew!" I turned away immediately, but it wasn't long before the disgusting sounds ceased. I turned around to find that Kopaka had laid Pohatu back down and produced a rag, with which he wiped clean the Toa of Stone's mouth and the spots that had appeared on his own armor.

"He was about to throw up," was the Toa of Ice's belated answer.

"I can see that. It smells awful," I noted as the odor of alcohol-tainted vomit became evident in the room. Kopaka apparently agreed, because he reached down and flash-froze the contents of the pot.

"That should help," he said calmly. I looked at Pohatu, who'd remained fast asleep through the entire thing.

"Sheesh… he really is out, isn't he?" Kopaka merely nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on his brother as he sat back down. "So, when you asked me for the pot, did you know that would happen?" I wondered.

"It was a possibility," he answered.

"Hm…" Somewhere, I wondered what would've happened had Kopaka not been here… I sighed before getting back to cleaning up bottle shards. I couldn't do much about the stain left by the half-full one, and I was working in dim light, but by about half an hour later I'd gotten rid of most of the glass. By that point, it was well past midnight, and I was getting rather tired. Pohatu'd thrown up a second time, which Kopaka'd handled just as he had the first. The house only had three rooms: the living room with kitchen attached, the bedroom, and a small bathroom that was, if anything, even dirtier and more dilapidated than the rest of the structure. Either way, no other beds, much to my dismay, so I elected to instead watch Kopaka and Pohatu until I was tired enough to find Pohatu's chair an appealing place to spend the night in.

The Toa of stone was still out like a light, while Kopaka spent his time as he'd done back on the train, thinking through something apparently well beyond my ability to compute. Leaning against the empty doorway, I watched for a few minutes. I noticed that Kopaka's normally stoic expression now betrayed a grave concern; I wondered whether he was actually making as much of an effort to conceal everything as he normally did. Maybe he believed no one was watching… No, he knew I was there. Perhaps he'd come to the conclusion that, given my abilities, maintaining appearances around me was futile… but then again, he'd known about those abilities all along, and hadn't released his grip on his expressions until now. Plus, much as I was trying to unravel the mystery that was the Toa Nuva of Ice, there was a great deal that still had me puzzled, and I think he intended to keep it that way.

"Lis?" He turned to me, somewhat to my surprise.

"Yeah?"

"How well can you read minds?" I was rather surprised to get that question from him.

"Uhm… it depends." What exactly could constitute a satisfactory answer? "I mean, it varies based on how much you actually remember. Like, back on the train, I got a lot from you."

"Memories, yes…" Kopaka nodded. "Would it be possible for you to look into Pohatu's?"

"I suppose…" I remembered his talk from the morning two days before. "Are you sure that that'd be appropriate?"

"No," Kopaka answered, "but it may be necessary." A curious change in attitude...

"Necessary for what?"

"To find out how much of him is left." There was as strong sense of foreboding to those words… Kopaka didn't sound very hopeful, and given Pohatu's behavior, I didn't blame him.

"I could," I replied, "but… without knowing who he was, I can't really tell you much."

"Okay." Kopaka nodded again, betraying neither disappointment nor delight, and got back to watching over Pohatu. I stayed for a while longer, trying to attach some meaning to the exchange. Based on the Toa of Stone's behavior, I understood his concern about how much of Pohatu'd changed… but the concern itself was still new, coming from him. Or was it? I remembered what Tahu'd told me before we left: Kopaka did care, but he couldn't admit it, to himself or anyone else… except when Pohatu got involved, apparently. Why, though? What was so special about the bond between these two?

Too tired to think it through much further, I finally gave in, retreated to the living room, and settled down into Pohatu's reclining chair. I immediately regretted not having done so sooner; old and dirty it may have been, but it was nothing if not supremely comfortable, so much so that I was out in seconds.

A mountain. I see a mountain, and I'm climbing it, leaving the tree line behind me. What's up there, exactly? I feel like I know there's something up there, but I can't figure out exactly what…

A place of far-seeing.

I can't tell where that thought came from, but it would be an apt description for this place… looking around, this appears to be the highest point for miles, and I'm nowhere near the top of the mountain yet. Also, what's that sound? Some kind of… rumbling. Thunder? It can't be; the sky is clear. Yet it's growing louder…

"WATCH OUT!"

A rocky explosion catches me, engulfs me, and momentarily knocks me out. I shake my head, blink, try to move… my legs are stuck in the rubble. Looking up, I see someone standing over me.

"Sorry about that. I was practicing." Who is he? I should recognize him, but somehow I don't… he's a Toa, but that spark of recognition isn't there. "Are you alright?" He's concerned. I don't need his concern.

"I would be, if you were not standing on me," I point out.

"Let me help you out," he offers.

"Thank you. I don't need help." I find and draw my sword, ready to make my own way out, but whoever this is… he's persistent.

"Let me do it. It'll be faster," he insists. Ignoring him, I call upon the power of Ice and instantly freeze the rocks around me to the point where they start to crack.

"I said…" I swing my sword around, easily breaking the now brittle rocks and causing the strange Toa to jump backwards to avoid being hit as well, "…I can do it myself."

"Yeah, well…" he smiles, "you missed one." With that, he kicks one of the boulders hard enough to send it flying off through the air. Pointless; it was not among those trapping me. I step out and resume my trek up the mountain, thinking he will return to his 'practice.'

The mountain's natural slope has steepened to the point where it is impossible to make progress except by climbing on all fours. "Listen." What? He's following me? "I have a feeling we're both here for the same reason," the brown figure keeping up with me explains. "Why not team up? It might make things easier."

"I work alone."

"By choice, or 'cause no one can stand you?" He sounds… cheerful. How inappropriate. I can sense great evil in this place; how is he joking at a time like this?

"All right, come along," I relent. "After all, I might need a mountain moved… or the island lifted." He laughs as though I'm joking… those are very real possibilities.

"Fantastic. I'm Pohatu, by the way," he introduces himself as we clamber up a particularly rough part of the mountainside.

"Kopaka."

Everything is… bright. Blindingly so. The wind is howling around me as I feel a slight chill… my eyes are adjusting at last; I can see now. I'm in a blizzard, but I can handle those… My companion, on the other hand, is finding this weather decidedly unpleasant.

"Whoa!" a dampened thud, barely audible over the wind, alerts me to the fact that he's slipped up… again. I keep moving… he'll catch up just like he did the last time, and the time before that. I look up and ahead. We're still climbing but if I focus just right… yes. A dark shape up ahead. A cave.

"Say, how do you keep your footing up here?" he asks from behind me. "I mean, I've got bigger feet than you, and I'm slipping all over the place." He laughs in spite of himself.

"We are close," I inform him. "Look ahead." So he does, and before long we reach the cave… I haven't seen this one before, yet I feel like I should have.

"Not bad," Pohatu follows me in and kicks some snow off of his feet. "A place for contemplation, right?"

"Not this one." I find that, just beyond the entrance, the cave is filled with rubble.

"Well, wouldn't hurt to check, would it?" The rocks begin to roll down and out of the cave as though acting on their own accord… except they're not. Pohatu's doing it. "Hey, for all we know it could be down there," he shrugs.

"Possible," I agree and activate my mask, searching out our target under the rubble. Hang on… is that it!? "That way." I point out the direction in which I saw the mask, and Pohatu focuses his efforts there. Now, he has unearthed it: the Kanohi Hau Nuva. It's lying in a crevice, but reaching down, he easily retrieves the mask.

"Well, look at this," he smiles, just as a rumbling sound catches our ears. We've both heard it numerous times; we know what it means. "MOVE!" Pohatu suddenly yells as the ground cracks, then opens up below him. He pushes me back, throwing the mask aside as boulders from the collapsing ceiling start to come down. I try to reach, to grab him, but in less than a second, he is gone.

"Pohatu!" I activate my mask again, searching for him beneath the remnants of the collapsed tunnel wall, pulling out chunks of rock as I go, but I can't see him anywhere… what I do see is a near-vertical shaft, leading straight down well beyond how far I can see. I hear the rumbling noise again… by reflex, I look up. There's cracks forming in the ceiling above me! I dodge to the side, barely in time to avoid being crushed myself as more of the tunnel collapses. I run, run back to the entrance… when the noise stops and the dust clears, the cave no longer exists. I'm standing in what used to be its entrance, now part of the icy mountain slope. There is no hope of getting back in there…

"Pohatu!" I call, but it I know it is in vain. If I could not find him earlier, he is… is surely gone now. My feet hit something, something metal. I look down to see the Hau Nuva lying there… It was to be his, but he threw it aside and saved me… I put it away. I must go, go and tell of what happened here.

The mask will be kept as Pohatu's memory…

For the third night in a row, I woke up drenched… again, I'd inadvertently picked up on someone else's thoughts, their memories… no question who it was this time: Kopaka. That moment, that had to be when he first met Pohatu; why else would they have to introduce themselves to each other? As for the second memory… it was later, after they became Toa Nuva, but when? Also, how did Pohatu survive that?

I got up out of the chair and looked around. It was still dark out, but the sky to the east was beginning to show hints of blue; sunrise was not far away. Remembering where I was, I stepped into the bedroom again, finding Kopaka still sitting there, not having moved an inch, watching over the sleeping Pohatu.

"Morning," I yawned.

"Morning."

"Have you been watching him all night?" I wondered.

"Yes."

"Don't you get tired?" I figured he certainly looked it.

"Not quickly." I felt like the truth was more along the lines of 'I pretend not to,' but didn't point that out. I noticed the pot was full, and frozen.

"He threw up again?"

"Five times," Kopaka answered.

"Sheesh… want me to get rid of that?" Kopaka nodded 'yes,' so I picked up the pot by the handles, only realizing then that I had no way to un-freeze its contents. Instead, I took it to the kitchen and set it upside-down in the sink, hoping the contents would, with time, melt their way out and down the drain.

"You won't need it again, right?" I asked upon returning.

"No."

"Okay…" I shrugged and waited for a minute. "So, about what you asked last night…"

"Forget it." Kopaka said coldly.

"You're sure?" I asked. "I mean, I saw a few things… again." When I said that, he turned and gave me that piercing gaze...

"You did it again?"

"Uhm… yes," I admitted. "Look, I didn't mean to, I swear. It just… happens."

"And what did your night visions tell you this time?" his voice had not lost any of its icy quality.

"It… it was from you. I think it was on Mata Nui, when you met Pohatu," I remembered.

"Irrelevant," Kopaka concluded.

"Well, there was another one," I added. Kopaka nodded as if to say "go on." "It was you and Pohatu again, up on a mountain," I continued, "and you were looking for a mask."

Kopaka's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Which mask?" he asked.

"Tahu's mask. The Hau Nuva." Kopaka remained silent. "The cave… it collapsed on you two," I continued, "did you think…"

"…he was dead?" Kopaka finished. "Yes, I did. But he was alive. I just could not find him at the time." He sounded agitated, but wasn't directing it at me.

"Oh... You tried, though." Part of sharing a memory is sharing the feelings that accompanied it, and I distinctly recalled a sense of panic from when he was looking for Pohatu… never mind the sense of loss after the second collapse. I knew I hadn't been there, but that empathy made it all the more painful.

"Of course I tried," Kopaka said. "He found another way out. Again, irrelevant." I wasn't so sure about that; much as he was trying to hide it, it was obvious this particular memory triggered something in him, too. Was he dismayed at his failure to find Pohatu? Or was he just angry that I'd gotten to see one of his more… emotional memories?

"Okay…" I sighed; it was too early to push him further. "I did see some of Pohatu, though. Like, how he used to be. So, if you want I can try to look and figure out… what's left, as you put it."

"I doubt he would complain," Kopaka said coldly as he turned back to watching Pohatu. It wasn't an outright 'no,' but I didn't feel like I had permission either, so I held off.

"Breakfast?" I asked, changing the subject to something more mundane.

"Later," Kopaka replied. His gaze was fixed intently, once again, on Pohatu… looking to the Toa of Stone, I noticed he was waking up.

"Ugh…" he groaned. "My head…"


	26. Chapter 26

"Blasted headaches…" Pohatu sighed as he put his hands on his head. He held them there for a moment, rubbed his eyes, then dropped them at his side again, only to see me standing at the foot of the bed. "Whoa!" He jolted awake. "What the…" He squinted; focusing was apparently still difficult for him.

"Good morning," I smiled and greeted him, trying to come off as non-threatening as possible.

"Who's there? Are you phantoms? Am I seeing things again!?" His eyes were wild and wide open. His voice trembled; I wondered what he was used to waking up to if phantoms were his first guess.

"No, I'm really here," I said as I stepped forward, hopefully into better view. "I'm Lis."

"Oh…" the panic faded from his expression, but he seemed no less uneasy. He eyed me up and down. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"We're friends," I explained. "Hewkii brought us here to see you."

"Hewkii?"

"The Toa Mahri of Stone. Your friend. He comes here to help you sometimes." When Hewkii'd told me that half the time, Pohatu didn't even remember who he was, I'd had a hard time believing it. To see it was something else. Pohatu looked up at the ceiling, gripping his forehead.

"Hewkii… Oh!" he looked back and pointed at me. "The yellow one… burly guy… right?"

"Yes…" I nodded slowly. Something about Pohatu's behavior didn't seem sincere, and it was bothering me.

"Yeah, yeah…. I know him…" He started to push himself up into a sitting position, but then noticed Kopaka, who'd been quietly sitting to the left of him through the entire exchange. The moment he saw the Toa of Ice, Pohatu's eyes widened again.

"Remember me?" Kopaka asked calmly.

"You! Every morning it's you!" Pohatu exclaimed, suddenly aggressive. "Both of you, go away! Leave me alone!"

"I am not one of your… phantoms," Kopaka asserted.

"Like I'd believe you!"

"You should."

"No! Damn it, no!" Pohatu shouted, waving his arms and looking away with his eyes closed. "You're not real! I don't know you! Leave me alone!"

Kopaka stood up. "I am real. I am Toa Kopaka Nuva. You know full well who I am." He looked down sternly upon the shaken Toa of Stone, an expression which I figured the latter should've been well familiar with. Pohatu looked up, still frightened.

"You're not… not here to haunt me?" Okay, so maybe recognition was still a ways away.

"I am your brother," Kopaka replied, "and no, I am not here to haunt you."

"Brother?… Yeah right…" Pohatu groaned as he lay back down, facing away from Kopaka, and pulled the covers back up. Kopaka looked to me and gave a slight nod with an obvious, implied meaning. Not that I needed a cue: curious as to what exactly was going through Pohatu's head, especially concerning these 'phantoms,' I was already focusing in on him, though this time I'd keep my own eyes and ears open. He was… very different from Kopaka, to say the least. Everything in Toa of Ice's mind was ordered, structured… in Pohatu's, signals were darting all over the place, and many of them were pain signals, and not just from his headaches… In fact, from the amount there I could only conclude Pohatu was in a lot of pain.

"No, you do remember," Kopaka insisted, turning back to Pohatu. "You must." I don't think he believed his brother was trying, but from what I could tell he definitely was… but something disturbing was becoming clear to me.

"You're all fake! Go away," the Toa of Stone grumbled from under the sheets.

"Lis already told you we are real," Kopaka argued. "Besides, you should remember us from last night."

Suddenly, Pohatu turned and faced Kopaka. "I don't, okay!?" he exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his hand. "I don't know what happened last night, and I don't know you, whoever you are! Get out of my house!"

Kopaka didn't so much as blink. "Keep trying, you will remember." Though he spoke calmly, something about his demeanor was becoming more… insistent. He needed Pohatu to remember, but the Toa of Stone's outburst confirmed what I'd already suspected from watching his thoughts dart about; even with pain signals firing all over the place, large parts of his mind remained utterly blank when I should have seen something, a flash or even a single signal, something to indicate it was… working.

"Damn, I'm tired…" Pohatu covered his face with his hands and gripped tight. "Argh! Stupid headache!" He held them there for a moment, then sighed. "Just… leave, leave me in peace for once..." His voice trailed off as he lay down again and pulled the covers half over his face. Kopaka stood still for a couple of seconds, then looked at me. I gave him a worried look back, after which he made his way along the bed to me. I retreated out of the Toa of Stone's mind, fully back into the real world.

"Are you seeing anything?" Kopaka asked in a hushed tone.

"He's trying, he really is," I replied, "but there's a lot… missing in there."

"How much?"

"I don't know… I'll need time to decipher what's there, but it's possible that he's seen you as one of these 'phantoms.'" I answered solemnly. "Could be that your memory really is haunting him." As far as I was concerned, it was one of the more likely explanations, and having seen the last, tearful goodbye between these two Toa, I was finding it rather hard to watch the reunion in their current state; Pohatu half-delirious and tortured by a decaying body and mind, with Kopaka clueless as to what exactly to do about it.

Kopaka nodded, then made his way back to the side of the bed. "Enough, brother." He grabbed hold of the cover and pulled it off in one fell swoop, tossing the aged cloth down beside the bed.

"No, don't!" Pohatu protested, but Kopaka leant down, grabbed his shoulders, and turned him over, locking eyes with the Toa of Stone.

"I am real, brother! I am not one of your delusions! Snap out of it!" Kopaka's sudden volume had me surprised, but nowhere to the degree that Pohatu was. Stunned, the Toa of Stone remained quiet for a few seconds as Kopaka held his position. Trembling, he slowly reached up and touched Kopaka's arm, feeling the cold metal of his armor.

"You… you're real…" he realized. "You're really here…" Satisfied, Kopaka let him go and stood up straight again. "I'm… I'm sorry about that…" Pohatu continued. "I see things sometimes, things that..."

"Things that aren't real?" I stepped forward, concerned.

"Yeah, that," Pohatu nodded. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Hewkii brought us," I repeated myself.

"Hewkii?..." It took a moment before Pohatu remembered. "Oh, right… him." He looked back and forth between us. "And… who did you say you were?"

Had Kopaka been inclined to show anything but the most extreme emotions, I think he would have sighed or rolled his eyes in frustration. Instead, he just introduced himself again: "Toa Kopaka Nuva, your brother."

"My brother…" Pohatu seemed to struggle to remember. "I know… I should know you."

"You should." Kopaka repeated himself.

"I know, I just need to remember…" Pohatu looked down and scratched his head. "Blasted headache…" He looked up again, somewhat hazily. "How do I know you?"

"We were on a Toa Team. We fought together," Kopaka said.

"Fought what?"

"The Rahi, the Makuta, the Bohrok…" Kopaka proceeded down what could only be a laundry list worth of villains.

"Bohrok!" Pohatu recognized. "The things!... With the staffs!"

"Those were Rahkshi," Kopaka corrected him. "Makuta's spawn. Do you remember?"

"No, they were Bohrok," Pohatu argued, but his voice was wavering a bit.

"The Bohrok had no staffs. They had shields."

"Oh…" Pohatu looked down, disheartened. "I could've sworn they were… the other ones."

"What do you remember?" Kopaka asked.

"Ugh…" Pohatu shook his head, looking increasingly frustrated with himself. "I don't know… It's all jumbled together," he gave up.

"Lis?" Kopaka turned to me.

"Yeah, what?" I wondered.

"Show him what you saw."

"What?..." it took me a moment to catch on.

"Mount Ihu."

"Oh, yes," I remembered.

"Mount Ihu?" Pohatu wondered.

"I'll show you," I stepped forward. "Just… close your eyes." Pohatu seemed somewhat unnerved by the idea, but obliged, after which I focused in on his mind again, but this time, rather than reading signals, I'd be writing them; implanting the memory, or the bits and pieces that I got from Kopaka, into Pohatu's mind. At first, it was a dicey process, since I hadn't done it to this extent before, but best as I could, I tried to channel everything I could recall to Pohatu. When I was finished, I drew back and looked up.

"It's done. You can open your eyes now," I informed him. Pohatu did so, looking slightly bewildered at first, then looked back at Kopaka, who was now crouching by the bed. His mouth fell open as, for the first time since we'd come here, I could see that hint of recognition in his eyes.

"Y-You're back…" he barely managed to say. Kopaka nodded as Pohatu recovered from his initial shock. "You're here… You're really here…I know you." he half-whispered, still scarcely believing what he was seeing.

"I am back, but not for long," Kopaka said, trying to bring him back into the present. Suddenly, with surprising speed, Pohatu reached out and embraced his brother.

"I – I remember… that mountain, the mask…" he continued. "You… you came back for me?"

"Hewkii said you asked for me," Kopaka replied, "and I would appreciate it if you let go."

"Oh, of course." Pohatu drew back, after which Kopaka immediately stood up. "It… it's just good to see you again."

"You asked for me," Kopaka repeated.

"I did…" Pohatu looked puzzled for a moment, but then his face fell grim as a chilling realization befell him. "Oh, I did…"

"Why?" Kopaka asked.

"Uhm…" Pohatu thought for a moment. "You know, I'm hungry. You must be, too. Please, let's have some breakfast first," he offered.

Kopaka didn't reply immediately, instead looking rather bemused as Pohatu dodged the question, but eventually relented. "If you insist…"

"Of course," Pohatu smiled, trying in vain to disguise a certain nervousness. Whatever he wanted to ask Kopaka, it was serious. He looked around as if searching for something. "Sorry, but… uhm… my legs don't really work," he admitted.

"Should I get the wheelchair?" I offered.

"That'd be nice," Pohatu smiled half-heartedly. I went and got the wheelchair from the corner of the living room where I'd seen it before. It creaked and squeaked quite a bit, but appeared to be otherwise okay. Kopaka stepped aside as I positioned the wheelchair next to the bed, after which Pohatu proceeded to push, pull, and eventually lift himself into it. From his facial expressions alone, I could tell there was a lot of pain involved; Pohatu grimaced and groaned a few times, though he largely tried to hide it from us. "Right, this way," he beckoned as he led the way out the bedroom and towards the kitchen, where he noticed the pot sitting upside down in the sink. "What's that doing there?"

"It's…uhm, you might not want to move it right now," I suggested.

"Okay…" Pohatu appeared close to doing so for a moment, then caught a whiff of the odor of melting vomit and apparently decided the pot did not require relocation at this time. Instead, he made his way over to the old fridge. "There should be something in here," he said, but upon opening the fridge he found it to be disappointingly sparsely stocked. There was what looked to be some remnants of a ruki dish, some fruit in various states of decay, and a nearly empty bottle of some kind of fruit juice. I noted that there was a rather generous supply of liquors on offer, though. "Well, it's not much, but I'm sure we can get something together…" Pohatu sighed. He opened another cabinet and pulled out a stale looking but otherwise fine loaf of bread. After scrounging up some plates, he divided the ruki and bread evenly; that was our breakfast.

"I don't have much of a table," Pohatu confessed as he lead us into the living room, "but make yourselves comfortable." Taking to his suggestion, I chose the chair. Kopaka preferred to stand. As expected, both the bread and ruki were hardly fresh, but far from inedible. Pohatu offered the remnants of the fruit juice to wash it down, which I gladly accepted. The Toa of Stone preferred to use a stronger beverage for the purpose, much to the disdain of Kopaka.

"So, that trophy…" I attempted to start up a conversation.

"My first," Pohatu said. "Lotta memories behind that one…" Though proud, there was a distinct undertone of uncertainty, maybe even bitterness in the way he said that.

"Did you always play kolhii?"

"No…" Pohatu's expression went blank for a moment. "No, I don't believe so."

"You did not," Kopaka reminded him. "Hewkii encouraged you to do it."

"Right, yes." Pohatu nodded.

"He told me you were pretty good at it," I smiled.

"Yeah…" Pohatu nodded again, though there was little authority to any of his replies. I couldn't help but wonder whether his memories of his Kolhii days were just as jumbled as those from before the Reformation. He took a modest sip from his bottle, washing down the last remnants of the bread on his plate. Kopaka and I had already finished.

"Getting back to your question," Kopaka said. "What did you want to see me about?"

Pohatu sighed, looked around, then cleared his throat. "It's… it's kind of personal…" he said quietly, eyeing me.

"I can leave, if that's okay," I got up.

"No, stay," Kopaka ordered me back down, much to my surprise.

"Okay then…" Pohatu took a bigger drink this time, apparently trying to build courage. "You… look at me," he began. "I… I'm hurt, brother. I can't remember how, or why… I just know I hurt. All the time. Sure, I've got that thing," he gestured at the lone trophy on the shelves, "but I'm not even sure where I got that from…"

"Kolhii," Kopaka asserted.

"Yeah, that…" Pohatu said. "Whatever that is… and look at this place." He gestured around. "It's no place to live, you know?" Kopaka nodded slightly as Pohatu took another drink. "Look… what you showed me, what… Hewkii tells me, that thing on the shelf… I was someone, once, and I don't know that person." He turned to me. "That… that brown Toa in that thing you showed me… Is that who I was?"

I nodded.

"Yes." Kopaka answered solemnly.

Pohatu sighed heavily… "I don't know… I don't remember… All I've got is pain, Kopaka. That's all that's left, and it's getting worse… it's awful. Every day I wake up, my back hurts, my chest hurts… never mind the headaches and the phantoms…" Choking up, he took a drink again. "I – I think I'm dying." Kopaka's eyes widened at the statement, as sure a sign of shock as he'd ever give.

"Dying?" he asked.

"Yes… I'm sure of it," Pohatu continued. "And damn it, it hurts so bad. I can't keep doing this… I'm done. Not anymore." He stared off in the distance for a moment, then turned back to the Toa of Ice, tears welling up in his eyes. "Look, before I ask, just know that I wouldn't ask anyone else this... no one I know."

"Understood."

"I… I'm gone, Kopaka. I don't know who I am, who I was… I'm miserable, and it's only getting worse…" Pohatu sighed, cleared his throat again, then looked Kopaka straight in the eyes: "As a friend, an ally, whatever I was to you… will you help me end it?"

"End it?" Kopaka looked perplexed.

"To end the pain, the nightmares…" Pohatu continued. "This… this shell of a life. I… I want you to kill me."


	27. Chapter 27

"Kill you?" now Kopaka looked stunned.

"End my misery… something…" Pohatu elaborated hazily.

"Toa do not kill," Kopaka said, clearly making an effort to maintain his calm demeanor. "The code is very clear about that."

"Toa…" Pohatu sighed. "Toa!... we were Toa once, weren't we? Were we?..."

Kopaka nodded. "We still are, brother."

"So what!?" Pohatu exclaimed. "Who cares now?"

"I do, for one," the Toa of Ice replied.

"But I'm asking you…"

"No," Kopaka interrupted. "I will not help you desecrate the title like that; there must be something else that can be done. Gali could help you with the pain, and you would not suffer so many headaches or hallucinations if you did not drink so much."

"Gali?" Pohatu gave him another blank stare, clueless as to who 'Gali' was.

"The Toa of Water, our sister," Kopaka said. Ironic that now he was perfectly willing to call Gali a Toa again…

"Uh… the small one? From the telescreen? With the green?" Pohatu wondered.

"No, that is Hahli." Now Kopaka was beginning to show signs of frustration.

"Err… the fat one?" Pohatu looked at him incredulously.

"She is an excellent healer," Kopaka noted.

"She tried," I pointed out. "She really did, believe me."

"She did, I think…" Pohatu tenuously confirmed. "Do I look like it worked?"

"Let her try again," Kopaka suggested.

"No… no!" Pohatu shook his head. "I'm just… I'm tired, Kopaka, I'm tired, I hurt, and I'm gone… I can't go on like this… I'm begging you, help me end it."

"I am sorry, brother," Kopaka said more coldly than seemed appropriate for the words, "but I cannot kill you, and I cannot help you kill yourself."

Pohatu sighed again. "You're sure?"

"There has to be a better option," Kopaka argued. "One that does not involve your death."

"Everything ends with death…" Pohatu countered. "Nothing can be done about that…"

"You could throw that bottle aside before it drains what is left of you," Kopaka suggested again.

"It numbs the pain." Pohatu looked into the bottle.

"You could still have a life," Kopaka continued. "You could have centuries left."

"Centuries of what!?" Pohatu suddenly shouted to the ceiling. "Centuries of my body breaking down even further!?" He took another drink. "No thanks!"

"We are Toa, brother!" Kopaka switched tactics. "We have a duty to be there for the Matoran!"

"To do what?" Pohatu said sarcastically. "Tell them bedtime stories?"

"To protect them, to guide them, do what is best for them," Kopaka replied.

"Protect them? Guide them? Me?" Pohatu grinned. "Look at me! Half my body doesn't work, the other half is going to pieces! You can't fix this, brother!"

"I cannot, but you cannot simply abandon it," Kopaka said, "and I will not help you do so."

"It's not my choice anymore!" Pohatu countered. "I'm dying anyways! I'm sure of it!" He sighed again. "All I want… All I want is not to drag it out any longer." An uncomfortable silence followed as Pohatu drank again while Kopaka stood completely still… he was trying to formulate something, compute some argument, but Pohatu didn't care anymore. "I guess…" the Toa of Stone continued, "I guess you're no use to me, then."

"That would appear to be the case," Kopaka said bitterly.

"Go, then! Go do whatever you do… I'll probably forget you were here." Pohatu's expression mixed sadness with anger… there were tears in his eyes, and he deliberately avoided looking at his brother.

Kopaka paused for a moment before responding. "I will. Farewell, brother. Take care." He turned and proceeded towards the front door.

I got up. "Wait!" I called. Kopaka stopped and looked back at me. "Can't you… isn't there something?" I couldn't find the words I was looking for. Kopaka merely shook his head, then glumly continued on his way.

"Damned principles…" Pohatu cursed. "Can't even help a friend…"

"You know, he saved you," I turned and told him. "You would have drowned in your own vomit five times over last night if it wasn't for him."

"That cold bastard? Yeah right," Pohatu grinned… the alcohol was taking hold. "He'd help no one… wouldn't even try…"

"He sat by that bed all night, watching over you," I said indignantly. "Don't you dare say he didn't try to help you!" Had someone told me the night before that, come morning, I'd be defending Kopaka's actions, I would have laughed at them. Now, I was doing exactly that.

"You know…" Pohatu slurred, "you're pretty… You could help…"

"That's it!" I'd had enough. I started around him, heading for the exit.

"What are you doing with that prick anyways!?..." Pohatu called after me. I stopped for a moment, intending to make one thing very clear.

"Well, he may be a prick, but at least he cares about something," I told him, after which I headed out too.

"Whatever…" Pohatu took to the bottle again. It was becoming clear to me why Hewkii'd given up on him; the moment that bottle took hold, Pohatu cared about nothing anymore… In retrospect, what did he have left to care about? Was this just his response to lacking a purpose… or was it the pain of two lives lived and lost that had driven him to drink? Gali's response to the Toa's loss of purpose had been depression… was Pohatu's anger, or apathy? Whatever had driven them there, my opinion of Kopaka had changed again. Yes, he was a pain, a prick, and he wouldn't hesitate to mention and explain in detail all the things he disliked even to the point of the hypocritical, but at least he had a set of principles that he tried to stick to. In a way, he really was the only remaining Toa Nuva.

I caught up with him as he made his way along the street, cloaked to conceal his identity from the fair number of Matoran and Agori milling about. Sunrise had passed, and things were warming up. For a while I followed the Toa of Ice in silence, unsure of what to say to him. As usual, Kopaka made no move to break the silence, but eventually I did: "So, where are we going?" I asked.

"The station."

"The station's that way," I pointed out. Kopaka wasn't following the route that we'd traveled from Station West to get here.

"The central station."

"Ah… you're leaving, huh?" I'd been expecting it, to be honest; if he'd had his way, Kopaka would've been in Onu-Koro-Nuva by now.

"I have done what Hewkii asked of me. There is nothing left to stay for," Kopaka said, still sounding agitated as he spotted a billboard further up the road. It advertised the upcoming 'Titanic Face-off' between Tahu, the Master of Fire and the Porcupine, the latter now complete with his own fancy design of metal spikes flying out against Tahu's fire in the background.

"I hope he survives. That Porcupine guy was rough…" I remembered, thinking of the brutal end the Lady of the Frost had met at the hands of the Iron Skakdi… Kopaka didn't respond. "I'm sorry about Pohatu," I finally said. "I didn't know… really know what he meant to you. And to find him like that… and Gali, and Tahu…"

Kopaka stopped, sighed, and turned towards me, looking me square in the eyes with that gaze that I swear could see through them. "What is done is done, those who lost their way are lost forever," he said coldly. "Their failures are none of my concern; we said our goodbyes long ago. I have my own mission to return to, and I do not need your reminders of what once was." He turned back and continued on his way. Once again, he denied that the other Toa were any of his concern, but his attitude and everything I'd seen over the last few days told me differently.

"You were friends with Pohatu, though," I followed. "Doesn't that at least merit an attempt to help him?"

"He would have me break the Toa code," Kopaka countered, "and will not accept help of the kind I would be willing to provide even if I did not have a greater duty to attend to. I have no purpose in staying with him, and plenty reason to leave."

"So, you're going to vanish again?"

"My presence is no longer required, therefore I will leave. That is and always was the plan," Kopaka said as though it should have been obvious from the start.

"But your presence is required," I argued. "Pohatu needs you. Gali needs you."

"That does not matter," Kopaka insisted.

"No, it matters," I pointed out, "they matter. They matter to you; you just don't want to admit it, 'cause that's… that's just not like you, is it?"

"If that is true, why are you arguing?" Kopaka questioned.

"Because you could be helping them if you did," I explained, "and especially for Pohatu, you may be the one person capable of doing so. With your help, they might just get out of the situations they're in."

"So?"

"I don't get it!" I exclaimed. "How can you get it over your conscience to just walk away from everyone like that!? If a Toa's duty is to others, there's an awful lot you could help to fix right here, right now!"

"My duty is to the Matoran first and foremost, not to the other Toa," Kopaka argued. "Also, keep it down."

"Duty, yes, duty…" Interesting that he kept going back to that… was that truly his belief, or just the virtue that, to him, was convenient to explain his actions to himself and others? "Duty is everything to you, isn't it?"

"As I have already told you, it is the one virtue left," Kopaka reminded me. "Destiny was fulfilled, and unity crumbled in its absence, but duty is unchanging."

"Ever think that unity can come from duty as well?" I asked. "Like, all the Toa have the same duty to protect and serve the Matoran. That's a unifying purpose, isn't it? Doesn't that come with a responsibility to watch over each other?"

"Duty is nonspecific and open-ended," Kopaka argued. "Every Toa goes about duty differently, and aims to benefit the Matoran in a different way. We argue about its interpretation, even fight over it, and therefore duty alone does not produce unity. Destiny does because it is specific, and it is now fulfilled. Hence, unity was lost."

"Uh-huh…" He had a point, and looking back at the Toa I'd met over the last few days, it kind of held up. Plus, he'd probably had a lot of time to think this stuff over while he was wandering up in those mountains. Still, his cold rationale left a lot to be desired. "And unity isn't worth fighting for in its own right?" I asked him. "It is still a virtue, after all."

"In the absence of destiny, unity is fought for merely for sentimental reasons," Kopaka added. "Such reasons produce no practical benefit for the Matoran."

"Why do there have to be practical benefits?" I wondered. "It's about being a good person, a good friend, code or not."

"Entirely subjective," Kopaka countered. "I would be a far better person for bringing greater benefits the Matoran, rather than preferring two bygone Toa."

"That depends…" I mused. "I mean, who really needs your help right now? The Matoran living their happy lives, or the two Toa in despair who you once called your allies?" Kopaka stopped and thought for a moment before turning to me.

"Why are you still here?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Because I'm curious, I guess…" I was somewhat flustered by how suddenly he'd broken off the discussion. "Besides, where else would I go?"

Kopaka sighed. "I have been willing to entertain you thus far," he continued, "but let me make this clear: what you think of my actions or motivations is none of my concern, and I will not tolerate your persistent questioning on the matter. If you are following me purely to criticize my behavior, I suggest you leave now."

"I might," I replied, "but you still have a promise to keep: you were going to show me that final battle, remember?"

"That I promised, and that promise I will keep," the Toa of Ice said, "but I expect you to leave afterwards. Can we agree on that?"

"Deal." I agreed. I mean, he probably would've tried to shake me some other way if I hadn't, and this way I at least still had some time to formulate what questions I had left… and possibly to convince him not to leave. With him planning on going back to those mountains soon, something was beginning to dawn on me; most likely, once he went back up there, he wouldn't come back again, and unless he'd sneak in another unlikely visit in at some point I could be the last person to see him alive. I mean, even now that his body was by and large working again, nothing could disguise the fact that he simply couldn't last long up there anymore, and I wasn't sure whether or not he realized that, or if he cared. Also, I was still having a hard time believing that his astronomical research was so important in its benefits to the Matoran that Kopaka was willing to go and die for it… especially since he could do a better job at it working in a knowledge tower right here, in New Atero, as Gali had pointed out. Before I left, I wanted to ask him to explain that; the whole thing just felt like an elaborate excuse for him to leave everything else behind otherwise, and worse, it was an excuse that would kill him.

We reached the station after a good hour and a half of navigating the city streets; now I understood why Hewkii had favored taking the underground train. It was mid-morning on a sunny day as we crossed the busy central square. The scene from our arrival repeated itself; Kopaka passed silently through the shorter crowd gathering many stares but no recognition, exactly as he planned, while I got a lot of respectful head nods, waves, and an occasional "good morning, Toa." One young Agori even asked if I could sign my autograph on a piece of paper for him… I got the distinct feeling that my reputation as a 'new Toa' preceded me, though I hardly felt deserving of it. I signed his paper, of course, smiled, then quickly caught up with Kopaka as he proceeded up the stairs into the station's foyer, where numerous ticket booths were set up. Kopaka approached the closest that was open.

"Fair morning, Toa," the cashier inside greeted both of us. "Where to today?"

"Ko-Koro-Nuva," Kopaka said in a surprisingly raspy voice. "One way, one ticket."

"Okay, that'll be fifty widgets in total," the cashier noted as he pulled a ticket up from what I assumed was a rack or drawer setup of some kind below his desk. Kopaka pulled out the required widgets and laid them on the counter. The cashier proceeded to count them, then handed over the ticket.

"I'll have the same," I told him, producing fifty widgets of my own. By the time I got my ticket and made it up to the actual platform, Kopaka had already found a relatively isolated bench on its far side and was awaiting the train's arrival. I joined him, and noted from the ticket that the train was supposed to depart within half an hour. There were a few Matoran and Agori waiting, but the platform was far from full. The train arrived within ten minutes, packed with travelers from Onu-Koro-Nuva, who departed in a steady stream onto the platform and down the stairs to the foyer. Once the train had emptied, we joined the waiting travelers and boarded. Kopaka turned left towards the back of the train, and proceeded through one car after another until he entered the last one, where he took one seat and I the one across from him, just as it had been on the train that we'd arrived on three days earlier.

"So, the final battle," I hinted as we waited for the train to depart.

"Wait until we are moving," Kopaka decided. Fair enough, I guess… until the train departed, there was always a chance that someone would make their way to the back car and join us. So we waited in silence, Kopaka still with his hood up, just in case someone turned up. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before someone did.

"I told you, it's her!" a voice called, accompanying the sound of footfalls and the door of the car opening. I recognized it immediately.

"Hey, Lis! Where've you been!?"


	28. Chapter 28

I looked over to the door to see the distinctive, green form of a Toa of Air. "Lerome?" I was rather surprised to see him here.

"Aw, what up, sis?" he approached, walking with that characteristic swagger, that beat to his step, and was followed in by the two other members of our team: Kirall and Jahlpu, Toa of Water and Earth, respectively.

"Oh, not much," I shrugged. "Been traveling. What are you all doing here?"

"Same as you," Lerome replied as he planted himself on the seat next to Kopaka. "We've been living up this town, right?" he turned to his companions.

"You have no idea," Kirall added. "I mean, the size of this place, all the stuff you do…" Jahlpu nodded in agreement with our sister.

"Never seen anything like it," he commented. I nodded too, a bit stumped by their sudden entrance. This was a really inconvenient time for them to show up.

"The light shows at that party in the Vo-Matoran place," Lerome said, "seriously, you should've been there."

"Oh, it was like, totally epic," Kirall added, taking the seat next to me. "There were these laser things that made all these patterns in the air, and a bunch of Glatorian were there, and we danced that night away!" I continued feigning a smile… I knew full well how much Kirall appreciated the company and attention of those Glatorian.

"It was really cool," Jahlpu added, having taken a seat as well. Unlike the smooth-talking Lerome and ditzy Kirall, our Toa of Earth was one of relatively few words.

"Nothing compared to Le-Koro-Nuva, though," Lerome said proudly. "Man, we were up for days in those tree huts!"

"I'm sure it was great," I nodded, nervously casting a glance at Kopaka, who didn't much appreciate the interruption.

"Don't forget the parkway," Kirall added. "Like, the day after that party, those Glatorian took me there; that place is shopping heaven! Look at what I got!" She raised up a leg, proudly displaying what appeared to be an attachment to her foot to raise her heels.

"Ehm… nice." I remembered Toa Hahli had sported similar modifications.

"They say it's this big thing among the Vortixx," Kirall continued, lowering her tone as though whispering me a secret. "They say it makes me look… powerful." A sly smile and much emphasis accompanied the word "powerful."

"Do they?" I asked, confounded as to what exactly the point was.

"Oh yeah, watch!" Kirall stood up and struck a pose, then another which was accompanied by a smile and wink. Lerome looked and nodded approvingly, while Jahlpu rolled his eyes. If "powerful" was the point, I think Kirall missed the mark, but a Glatorian or Agori would certainly have described her as "alluring." She had a certain poise, though I couldn't help but feel that those… attachments had to be messing with her balance. "Best part," she mentioned, "is that I got a massive discount, 'cause guess what, I'm a Toa!"

"Yea, we can pretty much walk in anywhere and get served for free," Lerome laughed. "It's awesome being a hero!" I was about to reply when, suddenly, the train started to move and my misgivings about Kirall's balance were proven correct. Standing effectively on her tip-toes, she could do nothing to brace herself and ungracefully tumbled head-over-heels as the train rapidly accelerated beneath her. Lerome burst out laughing at the undignified spectacle. Jahlpu rolled his eyes but couldn't help a smile.

"That was hilarious!" the Toa of Air gasped. "Straight-up wipeout!"

"You try it, buster," Kirall scorned as she picked herself up and took back her seat.

"You might need more practice," Jahlpu helpfully pointed out.

"Yeah…" Kirall admitted. "I'm working on it. But," she turned to me, "you know Toa Hahli has these, right?"

"Yeah, I know," I replied. Kirall idolized Hahli; she'd been religiously following her news broadcasts practically since the day she'd been activated.

"This is, like, just the start," the Toa of Water continued. "I'm gonna look like her someday."

"That's… uhm… that's a lot of work to be done," I hesitantly pointed out. "I mean, Hahli didn't get that done overnight, did she?"

"Oh, of course not." Kirall waved the thought away. "Point is, look where she's at today. I'm going to get there, too."

"Sure…" I remembered talking with Hahli on the subject of what all she'd had to do to herself to get there; Kirall had no idea what she was in for.

"No, really, I am," Kirall insisted, apparently thinking that I didn't believe her.

"Oh, I'm sure you will," I assured her, "but… you're going to sacrifice a lot for that."

"Meh," she scoffed. "I'll manage." I wasn't sure, but I wasn't going to stop her… Whenever Kirall wanted something, nothing and no one could get in her way. Lerome at last recovered from his laughing fit.

"Sheesh, sis, you've been missing out," he added. "We'll have to get you back there at some point, shake it loose, you know?"

"Get wasted," Jahlpu added.

"Yeah, sure…" I suddenly noticed Kopaka'd vanished from his seat a midst the commotion.

"No, trust me, you need it," Lerome went on. "Unwind a bit, sis; the Skakdi gave up, remember?"

"Uh-hm…" I spotted Kopaka sitting at the other end of the train, the very back of the car.

"Remember?" Lerome repeated.

"Oh… yeah, sure." I turned back to him.

"We're gonna see Onu-Koro-Nuva first, though" Kirall added, not sounding as excited about that prospect as she sounded about just about everything else. "Jahlpu here wants to see… what did you want to see again?" She turned to the Toa of Earth.

"The great mine," Jahlpu reminded her. "It's the biggest mine on the planet; that's like the holy grail for Onu-matoran. No way I'm not going to see it."

"Yeah, we're checking out a hole in the ground," Kirall shrugged.

"Riveting stuff, I'm sure," I smiled towards Jahlpu, well aware of how much he'd had to put up with from the other two Toa. He nodded back.

"So, what've you been doing in the big city, then?" Lerome asked me.

"Uhm… wandered about a bit," I answered, not wanting to get specific about everything that had transpired in front of me over the past few days. "I, uhm… I saw that fight between Tahu and Stronius."

"Oh, you did!?" Lerome exclaimed. "We were there, too! Awesome, am I right?"

"It was… impressive," I nodded.

"Man, that finishing move," Lerome leant back, remembering whatever the fight looked like from his angle. "Sometimes I wish I could do that with fire, you know?"

"You'd just send them flying," Kirall pointed out.

"Exactly!" the Toa of Air exclaimed. "It sucks sometimes…"

"Tahu can't fly, though," I noted.

"That's true…" Lerome admitted. "I wouldn't give that up, no way… did you go and see that big Kolhii match, too?"

"Unfortunately, no," I shook my head. "Didn't really have the time."

"Sucks," Lerome continued. "It was epic. Hewkii pulled the overhead launch like five times!"

"That seems a bit… excessive," I replied, vaguely remembering something about the "overhead launch" being Hewkii's signature move.

"Oh no, they set him up perfectly," Lerome explained. "Passed that ball to him right down the fourth line, then he'd rotate around the 45th, and suddenly, no defenders left beyond the goalie, and no way that guy alone was gonna stop a well-aimed shot from the master. They pulled that trick five times; those guys didn't have an answer to it!" Excited hand-gestures accompanied his explanation, but I could only nod and pretend to know what he was talking about… I just didn't follow Kolhii all that closely, whereas Lerome positively qualified as a fanatic.

"His favorite team did well," Kirall translated. "Like, really well."

"I figured."

"And Hewkii's his favorite player," she continued, as though I hadn't heard Lerome sing his praises a hundred times before. "He's a Toa of Stone…"

"I know…" I rolled my eyes.

"He's the greatest player there is," Lerome repeated what he'd said many, many times before.

"Yeah, yeah," I acknowledged. "You've told me."

"It bears repeating," Lerome concluded. For a moment, the car fell silent as no one really had much of an answer to that.

"Well, I'm going to check out the catering," Kirall decided.

"Good idea," Lerome chimed in. Both Toa got up and momentarily looked to me and Jahlpu.

"No thanks," I turned them down. Jahlpu likewise shook his head. To tell the truth, I was feeling a bit peckish, but I wanted to go check on Kopaka first.

"Okay, suit yourselves. We'll be right back." Lerome and Kirall departed.

"Fun times, hm?" I said to Jahlpu after the door closed behind them.

"Sure," the Toa of Earth admitted. "So, who's your friend?" he pointed down the car to the end, where Kopaka was sitting hunched over with his hood up, concealing his identity from my brother.

"Oh, he's…" I struggled to come up with an explanation. "He's another Toa. Bit older. I've been... keeping an eye on him."

"Ah," Jahlpu nodded. "Hero from the past?"

"Yeah… I should probably go check on him," I admitted.

"Go ahead," Jahlpu said, gesturing in Kopaka's direction.

"I'll be right back." I got up and made my way over the back end of the car, where Kopaka was sitting with his hood still up, concealing his identity from my companions. I took the seat across from him.

"Sorry about them," I began. "I really didn't expect them to show up here."

"I figured," he replied in as icy a tone as I'd ever gotten from him.

"They're my teammates," I continued, not sure exactly what else to say about them. "They're… uhm… riding a bit high on the whole being a Toa thing."

"They are not Toa," Kopaka asserted. "Not even close."

"Well physically, they are…" I argued half-heartedly, but Kopaka's death stare cut me off.

"After everything that you have seen, do you really think that being a Toa is all about that?" he said sternly, almost disappointedly.

"No, not really…" I confessed.

"Being a Toa is not about the powers, or the toys, or the generous gratitude of others," he continued. "We serve the Matoran, not the other way around. Those who forget that do not deserve the title."

"I don't think anyone ever told them," I sighed. Kopaka merely grunted, signaling disapproval but not dignifying the statement with a response. "So, the final battle... it may have to wait a bit," I continued. "I can't really ask them to leave, so..."

"No concern," Kopaka said, though his tone of voice indicated he wasn't pleased. "Go see to your friends, the battle can wait."

"Thanks." I got up and went back to my previous seat. "He's okay," I assured Jahlpu, who looked slightly concerned.

"If you say so." He shrugged. I appreciated his concern; within our team, Jahlpu was arguably the most sensible Toa... the most Toa-like, perhaps, going by Kopaka's definition. "How did he turn invisible?" the Toa of Earth suddenly asked.

"Did he?" I was shocked.

"When Kirall fell," Jahlpu explained, "he just... vanished, and then reappeared over there after a while."

"Oh..." Suddenly I got it. "Kanohi Huna," I replied. "He can turn invisible for a short time."

"Useful," Jahlpu nodded. "So, where are you headed, then?"

"Ko-Koro-Nuva, probably," I replied.

"You want to come check out the mine with us first?" he offered. "I mean, you'd probably find it more interesting than those two." He gestured back to the door through which Lerome and Kirall had vanished.

"Maybe..." I said, looking back towards Kopaka.

"They've got a statue of another old Toa there," Jahlpu continued. "Toa Onua Nuva, a Toa of Earth. A true hero, he was, the hero of the Onu-Matoran."

"Do they, now?" I got an idea. "Hold on a moment," I said as I got up again, and walked back to Kopaka.

"Want to make a stop in Onu-Koro-Nuva?" I asked the Toa of Ice.

"No" was his curt reply. He didn't even look up at me.

"They've got a statue of Onua there," I continued. "Thought you might like to see it."

"Why would I want to see it?" Kopaka wondered.

"Onua died, right?" I said. "Before you go back... wouldn't you like to know how, and what he did?"

"I know what he was doing when I left," Kopaka countered. "Why should I spend time getting to know how he died?"

"I don't know... get closure?" I offered. "I mean, he was your brother, too."

Kopaka paused for a moment, then looked up at me. "After seeing two of my brothers and my sister already, do you really believe that I want to see more?" He was suppressing it as usual, but I could detect pain behind that question... what he'd seen, especially Pohatu, had hit him harder than he was willing to admit.

"Perhaps not," I concluded, feeling a bit bad about pressing the issue in the first place. "It's just that... they're going to see it, and the mine, and I think it would be interesting to know what happened with Onua... and you still have to show me that final battle."

"I will," he assured me, "and you will get to see whatever you are planning on seeing in there with them."

"Okay then..." I shrugged and turned back, figuring that he'd already come up with a plan that accounted for the changed circumstances. "I'll come," I told Jahlpu as I took my seat by him again.

"Great!" Jahlpu smiled; I guess he was glad that at last he'd have some more company than just Lerome and Kirall. "You're going to like it, I'm sure."

"Probably more than Kirall will with those heels." I couldn't help but smile at the image of Kirall trying to navigate uneven, rocky ground with her new 'upgrades.'

"Yeah, probably," Jahlpu acknowledged. "Anyways, that statue... have you heard about Onua?"

"In name, but I'd like to know more," I answered.

"The guy's a freaking legend," Jahlpu continued, getting excited. "He practically dug that whole mine..." Before even really getting started, he was interrupted by the return of Jerome and Kirall, both carrying tasty looking sandwiches.

"So, it turns out, the catering's pretty good," Jerome announced as he took his seat again.

"Seriously, you should check it out," Kirall added.

"Later, maybe," I told her, noticing that Jahlpu looked a disappointed; he probably wouldn't get much of a word in edgewise while these two were around, never mind tell the story of Onua.

"What were you talking about?" Kirall wondered.

"Jahlpu was telling me about Toa Onua," I replied, hoping that he'd get the chance to continue.

"Onua... isn't that the one they've got the statue of?" Kirall asked.

"Yes," Jahlpu replied.

"Oh, the one that worked with Lewa!" Lerome suddenly exclaimed.

"The one from Le-Koro-Nuva?" Kirall wondered.

"Yeah, remember?" Lerome continued. "The one Kongu told us about."

"Oh, right..." Kirall recalled.

"Sorry," I interrupted, "Kongu? As in, Toa Mahri Kongu?"

"Yeah, that one!" Lerome said excitedly. "He told us all about the Toa Nuva!"

"Really?" Now I was curious… how much of what I'd seen and learned about the Toa Nuva had Kongu told them?

"Yeah," Lerome answered. "He does these tour things. Like, with the statue they've got a museum of what the Toa Nuva did… mostly Lewa. It's a really cool place."

"Bit boring," Kirall complained.

"Well, the museum, maybe," Lerome admitted, "but Toa Lewa was a badass."

"What did Kongu tell you?" I wondered.

"Well," Lerome recalled, "it started on this island place… Mata Nui."


	29. Chapter 29

"You've heard of Mata Nui, right?" Lerome asked.

"Yeah, of course," I nodded… he had no idea that I'd seen bits and fragments of the legendary island itself.

"Well, there were these evil rahi attacking the Matoran there," the Toa of Air continued, "along with these… the bug things…" he looked to Kirall, who shrugged.

"I don't know," she said nonchalantly.

"Bohrok," Jahlpu reminded Lerome.

"Right, Bohrok," the latter continued. "The rahi and the Bohrok were trying to destroy the island and everyone on it, but Toa Lewa fought them off!"

"With the other Toa Nuva, I'm sure," I noted.

"Of course," Lerome admitted, "but he did a lot of it. They even faced the Makuta there once, and they weren't even the Toa Nuva yet!"

"That was a pretty sweet upgrade," Kirall acknowledged.

"Yeah, so, after fighting the Makuta, they became Toa Nuva," Lerome continued, "but get this: Makuta wasn't gone! He came back, and they destroyed him again, with Takanuva!"

"That's impressive…" I noted, vaguely remembering parts of the story from what bits and pieces I'd seen in memory.

"Not only that," the Toa of Air pointed out, "but did you know Takanuva wasn't even a Toa before that fight?"

"Really?" Kirall asked, confused. "I thought that happened with the serpent things."

"Well, technically, yeah," Lerome shrugged, "but up until then, Takanuva was just a Matoran, and he went on this whole journey across Mata Nui to figure out how to become Takanuva. Guess who guided him? Toa Lewa!"

"Oh, right…" Kirall recalled.

"Really?" I questioned. "Just Lewa? The whole way through?"

"Yup," Lerome said proudly. "Of course, the fact that he could fly helped out a lot."

"Fair enough…" I agreed. "So, what happened after that?"

"Well, he met this weird monster thing called Tren Krom," Lerome said, looking up as though trying to remember something. "And… uhm, what was that other place?"

"Karzahni," Jahlpu helped.

"Oh, right!" Lerome exclaimed. "They fought another Makuta there! That's what it was!"

"I thought it was the same one as before," Kirall interrupted.

"Hmm… could be…" Lerome didn't seem sure. I sighed; I knew exactly which Makuta the Toa Nuva'd faced in that hellish place, and no, he wasn't the same one as on Mata Nui.

"Different," Jahlpu concluded.

"They looked similar, though," Kirall argued, "in those drawings they made of the fights."

"Those were made years later," Jahlpu countered, "and the two Makuta did wear the same mask."

"Oh, right…" Kirall nodded, but the expression on her face was far from certain.

"Anyways, not important," Lerome dismissed the argument. "So, after all that went down, Lewa went to Karda Nui, and fought more Makuta there…"

"Okay, okay…" I interrupted him. "I get the history parts."

"Lots of Makuta, lots of fighting, lots of stuff no one remembers," Kirall summed it up bluntly.

"Yeah, well… What about after the Reformation? What did Lewa do, then?" I wondered.

"Oh, that's the best part!" Lerome continued excitedly. "Get this: Lewa wouldn't stop. He wanted adventure, right?"

"Right…" I nodded.

"Well, after the planet was fixed, guess what he did?"

"Uhm… look for adventure?"

"Exactly! He goes off and explores the great wilderness of Bota Magna!"

"The one with the dinosaurs," Kirall clarified.

"Yeah, I know," I said towards her, somewhat snidely to indicate my growing displeasure at her constant interruptions.

"Anyways," Lerome continued, "He goes out there, right? On these big exploration trips, gone for a few weeks at a time, and then he comes back with all these amazing stories of the things he's found. And he does that for years, 'cause there was so much stuff out there to find, and a lot of it dangerous."

"He fought dinosaurs?" Now that was an image.

"You bet he did," Kirall interrupted. "I mean, those things are nasty. Like, really big, with claws and teeth and…" She stopped when I glared at her.

"Thanks," I said, "but I know what they look like. Let him tell his story, okay?"

"Fine…" Kirall shrugged, turning away.

"You were saying?" I turned back to Lerome.

"Fought dinosaurs, mapped jungles and caves, did amazing daredevil stunts, survived out there for weeks at a time…" the Toa of Air said proudly. "He paved the way for Matoran to move into that place. That's why Le-Koro-Nuva exists today: Lewa found a good place to put it."

"What happened to him, then?" I wondered. "I mean, it sounds like he had things going pretty well."

"Well, you know Mount Valmai?" Lerome asked. "The big volcano on Bota Magna?"

"The one that erupted a few centuries ago?"

"Yeah, that one. Basically, the Ta-Matoran figured out it was going to erupt, and Lewa really wanted to see it. Thing is, he got a bit too close…. Even the great Toa of Air can't survive being whacked out of the air by falling red-hot chunks of lava."

"Really? Couldn't he have, I don't know, kept a little more of a distance?" I was rather skeptical of someone of Lewa's caliber just… recklessly flying into something like that.

"No, it was like a thrill-seeking thing," Lerome continued, unfazed. "Like, he wanted to see how close he could get, you know? And you should have read some of the accounts from the Ta-Matoran; they even had a video. An old and crappy video, but you could see him, flying back and forth at super speed, dodging all these chunks of magma coming down!" Now standing, Lerome accompanied his description with swooping gestures and movements. "He was, like, this tiny speck racing along amidst that eruption, with the sky coming down around him, and I swear it was like he was just dancing through it or something…" he fell back into his chair. "Man… what that must have been like for him… I can't even imagine, you know?"

"Yeah…" I nodded, not sure of what to make of the story. "Must have been… exhilarating."

"Totally," Lerome agreed. "I mean, he died, but that would've been so worth it. The thrill of his life, right up until that last moment… that's how I'd want to go."

"I'm sure you do," I agreed, though Lewa's final actions still seemed downright foolhardy. Then again, that was exactly the attitude that Lerome admired.

"Spectacularly." Lerome finished.

"It was pretty impressive," Kirall admitted. Jahlpu didn't chime in, but his darkening expression indicated he didn't quite agree.

"Yeah… sounds pretty cool, I guess…" I sighed, momentarily glancing down the car to where Kopaka was sitting. He'd been paying attention; I was sure of it. I mean, we were talking about one of his former teammates. However, I was too far away to get a quickly distinct reading of his reaction...

"I'll probably end up heading that way anyways," Lerome continued. "After we get done traveling. I mean, Bota Magna is a pretty nice place, and they have a kickass kolhii team."

"That's all you'll ever need," I shrugged.

"Exactly." Lerome leant back, making himself comfortable. We were quiet for a bit after that; Kirall finished her sandwich, which thankfully kept her quiet, Lerome'd finished his story, and Jahlpu'd never been one to speak up and start a conversation, even among friends. As for me… I thought about Lewa. His behavior didn't make much sense to me; from how Lerome explained events, it appeared that the Toa Nuva of Air totally had it made, and even someone with his reckless streak wouldn't have taken on something as risky as flying through a volcanic eruption… right? It seemed positively suicidal, yet somehow Lewa had found himself there. The only conclusion I could come to was that something was missing, something Lerome either didn't know or didn't tell. I suspected it was the former, given that his account of Lewa's history was rather suspect as well.

"So, how long has it been?" Lerome eventually asked.

"About an hour," Jahlpu said flatly. "Twenty-two hours to go."

"Man, this train's taking ages," Lerome complained. "I wanna do something, you know?"

"Some entertainment'd be nice…" Kirall agreed.

"Go find some," I suggested. "At the very least they should have magazines or something in the other cars."

"Or a working telescreen," Kirall noted, pointing at the telescreen mounted on the wall towards the front of our car. It was out, but those in some of the cars further forwards had been on, I recalled.

"Yeah, I'm going to check that out," the restless Toa of Air decided. He got up and left again, followed by Kirall. Watching them leave, I noticed Kirall had already adopted a very different way of walking… one that all but screamed 'female Glatorian' in ways that did not befit a Toa…

"Quite the story." I eventually turned to Jahlpu, hoping to figure out what had displeased him about it.

"Yeah," the Toa of Earth shrugged. "The great hero, right?"

"Seemed to be," I noted. "Though I'm guessing Lerome left out a few things."

"He did," Jahlpu acknowledged. "But, you know, he's his hero and all…"

"His dream Toa," I sighed. "Suppose it beats Kirall's aspirations, right?"

"Someday it'll get him hurt," Jahlpu said grimly. "Or killed, if he's unlucky."

"So what really happened with Lewa?" I wondered. "I mean, I don't think he would've just… done what he did around that volcano for the thrill of it, right? Even he wouldn't do that."

"Not in his heyday, no," Jahlpu agreed. "Something else was probably pushing him, come to think of it…" He stroked his chin in that way he did whenever he was trying to recall something. "They didn't tell us that, though."

"Really?" I was a bit surprised by that; it seemed rather important.

"It probably doesn't fit the story of the glorious Toa Lewa," Jahlpu concluded.

"Probably true…"

"Guess it doesn't really concern us, then," the Toa of Earth decided. I merely shrugged, after which we sat silently again; Jahlpu in his signature hunched-over, brooding way while I leant back and tried to relax a bit for the long trip ahead. The question of Lewa still kept my mind occupied as I wondered what exactly had been left out of the story presented to my teammates; it just didn't sit right with me that someone with a life like Lewa's would risk it the way he apparently had... the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the Toa of Air's last flight amounted to little more than a suicide, a chilling contrast to the lively, energetic, and endlessly positive hero that I imagined from Lerome's description. However, it did fit alarmingly well to what I'd seen of the other Toa Nuva, each of whom was destroying themselves in their twilight years, one way or another. Was that their ultimate fate, and had Lewa just reached the end first? For that matter, if it was even true, what did it mean for Kopaka? Looking over, I noticed the Toa of Ice was still sitting hunched over, arms crossed and elbows on his knees, apparently catching up on rest lost from the night spent watching over Pohatu. There was a calm yet intense air about him, as close as I'd seen him to being at peace, though what little mental signature I could read at the distance wasn't telegraphing 'peace' at all… No, there was an unusual melancholy tint to the Toa of Ices' thoughts. He was more worried than he let on, though the latter part didn't surprise me.

After a while, Jahlpu got up. "I'm gonna see what Lerome and Kirall've found," he informed me. "Knowing them, they're probably starting a party in some car up ahead."

"Have fun, I guess…" I nodded, fully aware that this presented the perfect opportunity for time alone with Kopaka, and with it, maybe I'd finally get to see the final battle after all. Jahlpu nodded, turned, and made his way forward, leaving our car for the one in front, which from what glimpse I caught while the door was open was also mostly empty. As soon as the door had closed again, I got up and made my way over to where Kopaka was sitting. "They're gone, for now," I informed him.

Kopaka sighed, then waited a moment before replying. "I know," he said grimly, "but who is to say they will not return at any moment?"

"I figure we could hear them coming," I explained.

"Last time, would you have heard anyone coming?" Kopaka asked, referring back to the same train trip that had started our whole journey.

"Probably not, I guess…" Given how immersive the memory sharing process was, and the fact that things would probably get pretty intense in this final battle, I could understand his insistence on absolute privacy. "But when do you want to do it, then?" I wondered.

"They will be exhausted and asleep by nightfall," Kopaka predicted. "Then I can show you in peace."

"Okay, that works." I nodded. The idea of waiting 'till nightfall, given the length of the trip, didn't even occur to me. "So, were you listening to his story?" I asked, referring to Lerome's telling of Lewa's story.

"Yes," Kopaka admitted.

"I think he's missing a couple of things," I continued. "How about you?"

"We are remembered however people want to remember us," Kopaka said, sounding almost prophetic, "even if that means propagating lies by omission."

"So, what do you think really happened?" I asked.

"I neither know nor need to."

"He was your brother, though," I argued. "I mean, wouldn't you at least like to know? There has to be some interest there."

"Lewa was a Toa, sure," Kopaka acknowledged, "but he was also overconfident, arrogant, and at times downright foolish, never mind noisy. I do not have all the answers as far as what happened to him, but I do not find what happened surprising in the least. That is all I need to know."

"Of course…" I sighed. "And how do you think you will be remembered, then?"

"I neither know nor need to, so long as my duty is fulfilled." And we were back to duty again. "Besides, if you wish to see how I am remembered, just ask around in Ko-Koro-Nuva. They already believe me dead, do they not?"

"That's true," I admitted, "but you could correct any inaccuracies in your history. I figure that'd matter to you of all people."

"Would it serve anyone to do so? Would the full truth be a better memory for them than whatever they have come up with?" Kopaka questioned.

"Maybe not, but since when does the quality of the truth concern you?" I wondered. "You had no trouble telling Gali the ugly truth of her… situation. That's hypocritical."

"It concerns me because they are Matoran," Kopaka countered, now sounding somewhat agitated. "Toa serve the Matoran first and foremost, and if lies must be propagated for the Matoran's benefit, then I will do so, but I will not suffer Toa who fool themselves in the same way."

"That may be," I argued, "but if you're so dead set on doing things to benefit the Matoran, why don't you at least tell the Ko-Matoran that you're still alive? They worship you! Imagine how they'd feel to know that you're still alive, still watching over them, 'the last Toa Nuva,' or whatever you want to call it?"

"And what would they do?" Kopaka asked. "Throw a party to celebrate my return? If anything, I would distract them from their tasks, and no practical benefits would be gained."

"You might think you know all about the practical stuff," I concluded, "but you have no understanding of people. None whatsoever."

"I work alone," Kopaka said coldly, "which makes such knowledge superfluous."

"You're wrong on that part," I countered. "You had to work with your team once."

"Once, but no longer. Are you done?"

"Maybe… until nightfall, that is." I said.

"Go join them in whatever they are doing," Kopaka suggested, nodding towards the door leading forward into the train at the other end of the car. "I would prefer to be alone for now."

"Okay, just… don't run off this time." Kopaka didn't reply, so I got up and left, making my way forward through a number of cars as the train continued to hurtle along the track to Onu-Koro-Nuva. Looking back for a moment, I saw Kopaka had returned to his meditation. Once again, he'd put some semi-logical argument together to explain all the hypocrisies of his behavior, and once again his cold rationale had left me rather wanting. Perhaps, as a Toa of Psionics, I am rather predisposed to value the feelings and relationships of others more than most, since I can read their impact far more directly, courtesy of my abilities… but Kopaka's blunt and utter dismissal of people's feelings as anything of significance really bothered me, and still does. Anything that didn't fit in a rational sequence to him just wasn't significant, and perhaps that disregard for feeling worked for him, but everyone around him, everyone he worked with did have feelings that mattered… Perhaps that was part of the reason why he isolated himself so; to get away from the one thing he couldn't explain, and therefore be able to dismiss it as trivial. That idea occupied my mind for a while afterwards.

As I made my way through the second-to-last car, I started to hear music… upbeat and energetic Le-Matoran music, and that could only mean one thing: Lerome and Kirall really had started a party.


	30. Chapter 30

The party in question turned out to be three cars ahead, and by the time I reached it, the music had grown from a distant droning to a loud cacophony that could unmistakably be recognized as the work of the a Le-Matoran band that I'd heard a number of times before: Kikanalo Stampede. I entered the car in which the festivities were taking place: it was the same car in which food and drinks were available, and it looked like everyone was taking great advantage of that fact. The car was packed to capacity with Matoran and Agori of all tribes, merrily sharing stories and drinks in an atmosphere that reminded me more of a nightclub than the dry, dull public transport cafeteria/lounge that this was supposed to be. Some were dancing to the beat where there was space to do so, and perched above it all on a bar stool by the center of the bar was Lerome, downing a drink and enjoying the undivided attention of a sizable gathering of Matoran.

"…and I looked that Skakdi leader straight in the eyes," the Toa of Air proclaimed loud enough to be heard over the music, "and I told him that if he showed that ugly face in my town again, he'd spent the rest of his life watching over us from orbit!" His crowd responded with cheers and laughter, and drinks were shared all around. I looked right to find Jahlpu standing, leaning against the wall and calmly observing the happenings with a drink of his own, but before I could say anything to him, Lerome noticed me in the doorway. "Guess who's decided to join us!" He announced, stepping down from his barstool and gesturing in my direction. "Toa Lis, ladies and gentlemen!" He beckoned for me to come over.

"Uhm, hello…" I greeted nervously as I took a few steps forward, still trying to take in the absurdity of the scene, which Lerome was quick to explain to me as he stepped forward.

"So, turns out this car has a speaker system," he pointed towards the bar, "and I got our good friend there to turn off the boring tunes for some Kikanalo Stampede! And voila, we have ourselves a party!"

"So it seems…" I said as I looked over towards the bartender, a Vo-Matoran who seemed decidedly uncomfortable with the whole situation, a common feeling for those who found themselves caught in Lerome's path.

"C'mon, sis! Let's make this trip a fun one!" the Toa of Air invited, throwing his arm over my shoulders and moving me along towards the bar. A number of Matoran raised glasses to me as we passed by.

"I'm not so sure…" I began to object, but Lerome wouldn't hear of it.

"Nonsense!" he interrupted. "It's been way to long since you've kicked back with us!"

"You sure this is allowed?" I questioned. Lerome turned to the bartender and snapped his fingers, prompting the Vo-Matoran to quickly pull up another glass from below his counter and fill it with a fairly stiff-looking drink.

"Who's gonna stop us?" the Toa of Air asked in return. "I mean, look around. Everyone loves a good party, especially when the alternative is to sit and stay quiet for twenty-whatever hours."

"Can't argue that…" I looked around, and to be fair, the other passengers seemed pretty okay with the fact that Lerome had turned the lounge into a club. "Where's Kirall?" I wondered. Lerome gestured over to a corner on the other side of the car, where I spotted our Toa of Water, sitting with and rather enjoying the company of a Fire Tribe Glatorian, of all things… "Ah, she's… uhm…" I couldn't quite find the right words.

"She's playin', sis, she's playin'," Lerome said mockingly. "C'mon, you know her."

"Yeah, true," I admitted as the bartender offered me the drink, which I hesitantly accepted. Lerome's crowd had regathered around us.

"So, Lis here," he introduced me to them, "she's our master mind reader and psionic manipulator. She knows what you're gonna say before you even think of saying it." Some of the Matoran looked at me wide-eyed, while others appeared more skeptical, especially the Agori. "She can make you see things that aren't there," Lerome continued dramatically, "she can make you remember things that never happened, or forget things that did…"

"That's not…" I raised a hand, but that didn't do much to interrupt the Toa of Air.

"…she can make you feel real good inside," he continued, then darkened his voice, "…or she can show you stuff from your worst nightmares… BOO!" His captivated audience jumped at the scare tactic.

"Okay, that's not what I do," I objected. In fact, I was feeling profoundly uncomfortable with his description of my abilities…

"You can, though," Lerome said.

"Technically yes," I admitted, "but I don't, okay?"

"Tell them what you did to the Skakdi lord," Lerome invited, with a slightly cruel smile on his face… he was enjoying this.

"Oh, please not," I shook my head.

"It was brilliant, though!" Lerome excited the group, who now all looked to me expectantly.

"Brilliant is a bit of a strong word…" I tried to calm them, but to no avail.

"Aw, come on!" my brother pleaded. "You don't want me to ask Kirall to tell it, do you?"

"Fine," I sighed. "I may or may not have made the Skakdi warlord see a giant Irnakk behind us. To be fair, though, Jahlpu was the one who gave me the idea." There was little response from the crowd.

"They don't know what an Irnakk is," Lerome helpfully pointed out.

"You describe it, then," I told him.

"Of course…" Lerome rolled his eyes, then turned back to his expectant followers. "So, the Irnakk is the ultimate nightmare of any Skakdi, a giant creature with red glowing eyes and razor-sharp fangs and claws…" He accompanied his description by elaborately miming out some of the creature's features, though said description was also rather exaggerated; the creatures' spines were definitely not fifteen feet tall as far as I could recall, nor had the Skakdi instantly caved at its appearance, though it certainly had been a powerful bargaining tool. That was Lerome's way of storytelling, though; he told tall tales, great heroes' journeys, and as far as he was concerned, we now counted among the ranks of those heroes. I had my doubts, but his audience was none the wiser for it... He got caught up in the story too, so much that pretty soon he was as enthralled as the audience, and completely forgot I was there.

Seeing my opportunity to slip away, I left my seat and walked back to the end of the car through which I'd entered; I really wasn't in much of a mood for a party of any kind, and while Kopaka wouldn't jump up and down at my company, he probably wouldn't mind it if I stayed quiet. As I walked past the merry partiers, the festivities almost seemed to blend together in a haze of noise and color that I simply didn't feel comfortable being a part of anymore. Still, I turned and watched for a while from the doorway. After he'd finished describing the Irnakk, Lerome switched to showing off some of his slick dance moves to the amazed Matoran, probably helped by a little application here and there of his control over the air. Kirall wasn't paying much attention to anything anymore besides her Glatorian companion; in their own corner, secluded somewhat from the festivities, they were doing… decidedly un-Toa-like things, let me just put it that way. Turning away again, I noticed Jahlpu had vacated his spot to the right of the door. The imposing figure of the Toa of Earth would have stood out in the crowd, and I hadn't spotted it anywhere in the car... maybe he'd had seen enough, too.

I made my way back, passing through a few cars as the music got progressively quieter behind me. At last, I reached the final car, the quiet one where I'd left Kopaka… and where Jahlpu had apparently found him. When I opened the door, I was astonished to see my teammate standing across from Kopaka, who was still sitting, hood up, in the same spot where I'd left him not fifteen minutes before. They were carrying on some kind of conversation. Curious as to what they were discussing, I moved forward, using my Volitak to mute any sounds and get close without interrupting them. From about halfway down the car, I could clearly hear what they were saying.

"…and she just followed you?" Jahlpu asked as though he was interrogating Kopaka.

"Voluntarily," the latter said calmly.

"Why?" my brother asked.

"I do not know what she seeks," Kopaka answered.

"Well, what do you offer?" Jahlpu leant closer, his impressive stature looming over the sitting Toa of Ice.

"I offer nothing, other than answering her occasional questions," he explained.

"Hmm… can you see why I find this a bit concerning?" Jahlpu crossed his arms.

"Concerning? No."

"Really?"

"No."

"Well, let me give it to you straight, then," Jahlpu sighed. "She's free to associate with whoever she wants, but if she's keeping the company of mysterious people doing Mata Nui only knows what, I get alarm bells going off. She means well, I'm sure, but I don't want anyone leading her to the wrong crowd, if you know what I mean."

"I have no crowd," Kopaka said flatly.

"Sure you don't," Jahlpu said sarcastically. "Just know this: if anything happens to her, I'll come looking for you, got that?"

"Yes," Kopaka acknowledged without looking up.

"Good." Jahlpu turned; I ducked back behind a chair, turning my mask's power to full to render myself transparent. That was enough to conceal me from Jahlpu, who walked past and exited the car, presumably heading back to the party.

"You really should not eavesdrop on people," Kopaka said after the door closed behind the Toa of Earth.

"Well, I've kind of got the mask for it," I said disappointedly as I deactivated the mask and got up. "Turns out they're throwing a party a few cars up ahead."

"I know."

"Of course you do," I sighed, taking the seat across from him.

"You should tell your teammate not to make hollow threats," he suggested.

"Oh, it wasn't hollow," I corrected him. "Jahlpu's a bit… overbearing sometimes, but he's also protective, and he means well."

"I did not doubt its sincerity," Kopaka countered, "but he may have a difficult time finding me even if something does happen to you."

"Well, at least he'd know who to look for," I said.

"He never asked my name, nor recognized me," Kopaka said, momentarily looking my way. I noticed he'd switched masks to a noble Mahiki, of all things, but he returned to his staple Akaku Nuva after I saw it.

"Ah… okay." I understood now, though it once again brought up the grim reality that Kopaka's time here was coming to an end, and I'd likely never see him again afterwards… "So, you'll be heading straight out, then?" I asked him, though I already more or less knew the answer.

"That is the plan," Kopaka reiterated himself.

"That thing," I suddenly remembered, "that thing that Gali told you, about being able to do astronomy in the knowledge towers instead…"

"No." Uncharacteristically, Kopaka cut me off.

"Why not, though?" I continued. "I mean, she had some valid points…"

"What valid points?"

"You'd have better equipment, you'd be safer, and if somehow you hurt yourself she could be right there to help you," I explained. "And you'd be able to stay with and help her… or Pohatu, even."

"So?"

"It makes no sense that you're doing this." I said… "To me at least… It just doesn't."

"I work better alone," Kopaka said. "That is why I prefer the mountains."

"They'd let you work alone up there, though, if you asked for it," I countered. "I mean, you could live up there if you wanted to, well above and far away from everyone."

"Not far enough," Kopaka complained. I could tell I'd hit a nerve; he was getting frustrated with me again. What did he mean by 'not far enough,' though? Half a mile above the rest of the city, he'd surely be insulated from the noise, and what else could possibly bother him?

"What does that mean? How isolated to you need to be to work?"

Kopaka waited for a moment before replying. "Remember what I told you about questioning my actions?" he asked.

"Yeah, you told me not to," I replied, somewhat put off by him breaking off the subject.

"Continue down this path and you will not see the final battle," Kopaka said with a threatening undertone to his voice. "I need not explain my reasons to you. Also, I already asked you to leave me alone for now once; I would prefer you do so now."

"Fine…" I relented, getting up again and moving off. If we had any time left together after he showed me the final battle, though, I'd have to ask him that question again. Something about his behavior on the subject of why he preferred the dangerous mountains over the safer knowledge towers didn't fit right… it wasn't logical like everything else he did was in one twisted way or another. He centered everything around duty, yet refused this opportunity to better work towards fulfilling his… something had to be missing, something that he wasn't inclined to share, as evidenced by the fact that he immediately returned to sleeping. Not inclined to return to the party going on up the train, I took a seat in one of the cars in between and watched the telescreen in there for a while, trying to think of what it Kopaka's reasoning could be. Then I recalled what Gali had told me about him, the night when she was up filtering his blood. She believed his primary reason for living up there wasn't astronomy; it was solitude. That made sense, actually… as much as he could isolate himself atop a knowledge tower, Kopaka would always be able to see the massive city below him, whose residents would never be more than a door and some stairs away… Was that what bothered him? The mere presence of other people? But why? In light of his threat concerning the final battle, I wasn't inclined to ask, but the idea stuck with me as I sat and watched Hahli's morning news broadcast. The idea of trying to read into Kopaka's thoughts again did cross my mind, but I decided against it. Not now, not when we were getting so close to when he'd actually show me what I'd been waiting for ever since that night on the beach of New Atero.


	31. Chapter 31

As the sun rose higher and noon approached, I realized I was getting hungry, never mind bored, and decided to brave the 'party car' again and get a hold of a sandwich of my own. Making my way forward through the train, I noticed the beat of the music had changed. It was faster, rowdier, and before I even opened the door, I feared that the situation in the car would mirror the change in soundtrack. I was right; where previously the atmosphere has been energetic, it was now downright chaotic; the space around the bar resembled a mosh pit, crowned by a considerably drunker Lerome, leading the Matoran in a frenzied dance, if that was the right word, to the music blasting from behind the counter. I watched for a minute or so, wondering how exactly I was going to make my way through the densely packed crowd, but with the end of the song they dispersed somewhat, allowing me to move in. A couple of the Matoran greeted me enthusiastically; apparently several of Lerome's tall tales had featured me after I left. For his part, the Toa of Air wasn't paying much attention, not noticing me until I'd practically reached the bar. Of course, that was accompanied by an enthusiastic greeting.

"Lis, welcome back!" he exclaimed. "Where'd you go!?"

"Stayed in the back for a while," I said dismissively before turning my attention to the Vo-Matoran behind the bar, who looked even more out of his depth than he had when I last saw him a few hours before.

"C-can I help you, ma'm?" he asked, periodically casting nervous glances in Lerome's direction.

"I'd like something to eat," I informed him. "They told me the sandwiches were pretty good."

"Of course, of course," the Vo-Matoran turned and disappeared behind the counter, only to reappear moments later with a pre-packaged sandwich.

"Two widgets, I believe?" I asked, remembering the price from my last trip, a few days before.

"Yes, ma'm," the Vo-Matoran said. I handed him the two widgets and received my lunch in return.

"Hey, play another one," Lerome told the bartender. "Let's keep this party going!" The bartender rolled his eyes and fiddled with something under the bar, after which the next song started playing. It was another rowdy dance track, much to Lerome's delight. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" he merrily exclaimed, after which he swung around on his stool and stepped down onto the floor, intending to once again demonstrate his 'mad skills' even while significantly intoxicated. Unsurprisingly, his coordination had suffered, though he still put on a pretty good show, not that I was all that interested. Looking around, I noticed Kirall and her companion had vanished altogether, while Jahlpu had taken a seat in the corner, observing the fray but staying well away from it. I made my way across the impromptu dancefloor to join him at his table. The music volume made it all but impossible to make one's voice heard, so he merely nodded in greeting as I took the other seat facing into the car, from which I watched the rave unfolding to the dark, angry tune of Kikanalo Stampede's "Down in the Pit." We both watched for a while, me making my way through the sandwich while Jahlpu watched with apparent amusement the spectacle unfolding in front of us.

With lunch finished, I decided to vacate the place again before I lost my hearing completely; instead, I went and checked what was on the telescreen a car or two back. Turned out it was some kind of Agori fashion show, followed by the afternoon weather, then a segment on great places to eat in New Atero; surprisingly, Daila's Dermis Shack wasn't featured. None of the programs really interested me much, but with little better to do I kept watching, my mind drifting over the events of the last few days. However, I drew the line at "Highlights of the Arena Magna." By that point, it had been several hours and dusk was fast approaching. The noise from the party car had quietened considerably, but I decided to move back to the last car and bide my time there until Kopaka saw fit to show me the final battle at last. The Toa of Ice hadn't moved, but he was thinking of something, and I decided not to disturb him for the time being. Unfortunately, not fifteen minutes after I entered the car, my teammates followed suit.

"That… was so worth it…" Lerome stumbled in first, followed closely behind by Jahlpu, who was doing his best to steady the Toa of Air. "Really, awesome… I wanna go back."

"You need to rest," Jahlpu asserted.

"Okay…" Lerome hazily replied, then collapsed onto several seats that lacked armrests.

"Look at him! Wasted!" Kirall exclaimed in an amazing feat of irony, considering that she was barely standing herself. Jahlpu merely rolled his eyes, then pointed at another set of empty seats, which Kirall stumbled towards and eventually came to rest upon. "Hey, Lis!" she exclaimed upon noticing me sitting three chairs away, "You ought 'a try it sometime…"

"No thanks," I said, rather dismayed at their appearance. Loud snoring from Lerome indicated the Toa of Air was already out cold.

"No, really," Kirall continued, "he did, like, this fire thing… and there was light 'n stuff…"

"No thanks," I reiterated myself, not wanting to hear more of Kirall's afternoon activities.

"Fine, be that way," the Toa of Water shrugged, then lay down as well. "Man, I'm tired…" it wasn't long before she was out too, at which point Jahlpu walked over and took the seat across from me.

"End of the party, huh?" I asked.

"Yup." Jahlpu nodded. "For now."

"No kidding…" I rolled my eyes. "And still it always ends like this."

"You'd think they'd learn," the Toa of Earth sighed.

"What are you still doing with them?" I asked. "I mean, you weren't much enjoying the party, except for watching Lerome wipe out fifteen times."

"Yeah, they're entertaining," Jahlpu acknowledged. "Besides, what else would I do? Someone's got to look out for them; they certainly aren't."

"We should talk some sense into them at some point… Toa should be more dignified than that." I gestured over at the two snoring figures draped over the chairs.

"Good luck with that." Jahlpu shook his head. "They're having fun, and it's not like there's something else for them to do either. Besides, you're one to talk; you'd usually be right there with them."

"True…" He was right; I may not have been as exuberant as Lerome or Kirall, perhaps, but I'd had my share of blackouts in the past, just like they were having now. Thing is, my conscience started to act up about it, whereas they had no such concerns, apparently.

"Something happen, sis?" Jahlpu asked, shaking me from my moment of self reflection.

"Uh? Like what?"

"You seem… different than before," he continued. "More worried."

"Nah, I'm fine… I've just seen a few things since the last time we were together," I replied.

"Bad things?"

"You could say… nothing to worry about, really. Just… made me think, that's all." An understatement, sure, but I really didn't want to explain everything to Jahlpu right now.

"I hope that's all."

"It is." I nodded. We sat there for a bit. Jahlpu pulled out a paper and started to read it. He was right, as usual… a few months, no, weeks ago, I would've been right up there with our brother and sister. And where Lerome and Kirall were concerned, much as their behavior wasn't very Toa-like, it wasn't like they had much reason to do otherwise. Like the Toa Nuva and Mahri, we had no enemy to fight nor Matoran that needed protecting, yet enjoyed the status of those who had risked their lives to do so. So yeah, why not throw a party at every opportunity? My brother and sister were carefree, alive in the most visceral sense, living it up without any need for concern about the world around them or what the next day would bring, and I used to be the same way… now, though, I just wasn't feeling it anymore, couldn't share in their frivolity, not after what I'd seen of the interactions between Pohatu and Kopaka, and Gali, and all the other Toa whose work had in part made this all possible. They languished and faded while we, the next generation, had the time of our lives… If anything, I felt guilty about it. Jahlpu saw it as entertainment, and given his easy-going nature, I guess that wasn't surprising. Looking right, I noticed Kopaka hadn't moved an inch during the whole discussion, but I felt like he'd been paying attention, picking up on stuff like he always seemed to do. With Jahlpu present, though, I didn't want to get up and ask him about it, never mind the final battle. My brother was suspicious enough as it was, and I feared Kopaka wouldn't much appreciate his attention, which left me with but one option; to wait until, for one reason or another, my brother took himself out of the picture.

So I waited for a good hour while Jahlpu gradually made his way through the entire paper. After putting it back where he'd found it, he got up and walked over to where Lerome and Kirall were sleeping soundly, through in some of the most awkward positions I'd ever seen. Jahlpu fixed that, moving them until both were laying relatively flat across the couple of seats they occupied, ensuring that they wouldn't wake up completely sore in addition to the splitting headaches they'd already resigned themselves to. Watching, I hoped that Jahlpu would leave afterwards, maybe to clean up the mess in the dining car, or use the bathroom, or find his own place to sleep… anything. But no, he returned to his spot across from me.

"They're in for a rough morning," he predicted.

"No kidding…" I sighed.

"So, what is it you saw?" Jahlpu wondered.

"What I saw?"

"You said you saw some things," he continued, "things that made you think."

"Oh, that…" Now I realized where he was coming from. What could I tell him, though? "Oh, just… that fight between Tahu and Stronius," I replied. "Amazing power for a Toa, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it was," Jahlpu agreed. "That's all?"

"No, it's just…" I tried to come up with something else, but couldn't. "I met some other Toa, that's all."

"Which Toa?" Jahlpu wondered.

"Older Toa. The Toa Mahri. Hahli, Jaller, Hewkii… saw Matoro's statue, too."

"You talked to them?" Jahlpu's eyes grew wide.

"For a bit, yeah. They were busy with their stuff, obviously," I replied.

"Wow…" Jahlpu nodded, then looked back to Lerome and Kirall for a moment. "You'd better not tell them," he advised, "otherwise they'll demand you introduce them."

"That's why I wasn't too keen on talking about it," I shrugged. "Besides, yeah, they're great, but it's not like they've got a lot of time on their hands, you know? I mean, Hahli does her reporting, Hewkii has Kolhii things to do…"

"Of course," Jahlpu nodded. "But hey, you might get to add Nuparu to that list soon. Of Toa you met, I mean."

"Hopefully. And you guys met Kongu, right?"

"Yeah, yeah… he told us a lot about Toa Lewa," my brother recalled. "Officially, he trains Matoran and Agori in Kewa riding, but he was always very close to Lewa, and he answered some questions about him."

"The volcano thing still bothers me," I admitted. "I mean, from what Lerome said, Lewa doesn't seem like the type who would've just done that, you know? I mean, it's beyond reckless… it's suicidal."

"I got that vibe too, when Kongu told us about it," Jahlpu agreed. "I think there's more to it, but I wasn't going to stay in Le-Koro-Nuva to find out… Those flimsy treetop huts had me pretty nervous."

"No kidding, right?" I smiled; accustomed to the underground life, Jahlpu's fear of heights was understandable.

"Yup… really, though," Jahlpu continued, "do we know what really happened to the Toa Nuva? Tahu's still very visibly around, and Lewa and Onua have statues, but all we really know are legends. I mean, what happened to Gali, you know? Or Pohatu? Or Kopaka?" I continued to smile, but now nervously; I knew exactly what had happened to them, but the pictures weren't pretty.

"Kopaka has a statue, too," I pointed out. "In Ko-Koro-Nuva."

"So he died to, huh?"

"They think so," I nodded, trying really hard not to hint in any way at the fact that the Toa Nuva of Ice was sitting not twenty feet away from us.

"But Gali and Pohatu don't, so far as I know," Jahlpu said. "They just… fell of the face of the planet, it seems. I mean, if they were dead, people would've put up memorials, and if they're still around, maybe they could shed some light on what drove Lewa, you know?"

"I guess they might…" I realized. "What's got you so interested, anyways? You were never much for the archives, right?"

"No, not really," Jahlpu admitted, "but I'm sure there's something to be learned from them… besides, knowing what older Toa ended up doing might help me figure something out for myself… right now, we're all just kind of wandering, it seems, and I don't intend to keep following those two from party to party forever." He gestured over at Kirall and Lerome.

"Yeah, that's kind of what I've been doing," I agreed. "Trying to figure something out…" It was good to know I wasn't the only one uncertain about my future, though Jahlpu's concern about his own was something new. Something he'd picked up on his travels, I guess.

"Did the Toa Mahri give you any ideas on that at all?" he wondered.

"They're doing okay for themselves," I remembered, "but they had good jobs as Matoran; Hewkii was a Kolhii star long before he was a Toa, and Hahli was chronicler at one point. I don't really have something like that to fall back on… I mean, imagine a Toa assistant weaver." We chuckled in spite of ourselves.

"You could do that," Jahlpu said, "but it'd kind of feel like a waste, I imagine."

"Yes, it would…" I nodded.

"You know, that's why I'm going to Onu-Koro-Nuva," Jahlpu continued. "The mine's great and all, but I'd like to know what other Toa of Earth have done. Something that, maybe, I could do."

"Something to help the Matoran," I finished.

"Exactly." Jahlpu finished. "Like the Toa code thing that the Turaga talked about." Oh boy, had I heard a lot about that over the last few days.

"Yeah, me too…" We sat quietly for a couple of seconds, ruminating on what we could do.

"We'll find something eventually," Jahlpu concluded. "There's plenty of jobs for a Toa around, I'm sure."

"I guess so," I agreed. Jahlpu got up.

"Time to go clean up some of their mess," he decided, gesturing towards our brother and sister again. "Best not to leave the dining car in the state they did."

"Best of luck with that," I said, well aware that he probably had a pretty big task ahead of him. "I'll watch over them, make sure they don't do something stupid… again."

"Thanks," Jahlpu began to move for the door. "They'll probably throw up at some point, but other than that they should be out for a while."

"I've got a bucket handy," I smiled, gesturing towards a small trash can that was positioned beside the bench.

"See you in a bit, then," Jahlpu waved, then vanished through the doorway.

"See ya." As the door closed, I picked up the trash can, along with its counterpart from the other side of the car, and set one by the seats that Lerome was lying down on and the other by Kirall. Both were still out cold. Satisfied, I moved back through the car and sat down across from Kopaka.

"Well, he's gone for now," I informed him, "and the other two aren't waking up any time soon."

"He is looking for a purpose too, is he?" the Toa of Ice asked.

"Yeah, I guess we all are," I nodded, somewhat surprised at his question. Usually, Kopaka took no interest in anyone else's affairs. "Why? Do you have any ideas?"

"No," he answered flatly, "but it is good that he is looking."

"You know, he used to talk about the legends of Onua a lot," I remembered, "and he's definitely more interested in mining than the archives…"

"He has chosen a good role model," Kopaka concluded.

"In Onua?" I asked.

"Yes. Especially compared to Lewa or Hahli." Apparently, Kopaka had paid attention to the earlier conversation, and Lerome and Kirall's role models. I was already well familiar with his disdain for Hahli, but Lewa?

"What was so bad about Lewa?" I wondered.

"As you suspected, Kongu did not tell them everything," Kopaka continued. "Lewa was enthusiastic, yes, but far from without shortcomings."

"Like his recklessness?"

"Among others. He was also under Makuta Teridax's control for some time, he was infected by krana, and nearly became a shadow Toa in Karda Nui. He had a habit of charging into situations he could not make his way out of, something that a Toa cannot afford to do."

"Shadow Toa?" I was immediately reminded of what I saw on the night of the surgery… Kopaka recognized it, too.

"Not like that. Those were illusions, phantoms," he explained. "A Shadow Toa as in, a Toa drained of light and turned evil by a shadow leech."

"That sounds awful," I shuddered. "But this habit… do you think it was what drove him to try his luck with Mt. Valmai?"

"No." Kopaka concluded. Though his expression was as stoic as ever, I noticed there was a hint of worry in his thoughts. "On Mata Nui, perhaps he would have, but not after Karda Nui."

"What was it, then?" I asked, hoping to get at whatever troubling realization he'd come to.

"I do not know," he said calmly, then waited for a moment, "and I have no intention of spreading rumors."

"Maybe you should find out," I suggested.

"There is no need for that," Kopaka continued. "The Matoran have in Lewa what they need: a symbol. Whether it presents a complete picture of my brother or not is irrelevant."

"That's a bit strange, coming from the guy who's never told anything but the harsh and full truth to anyone," I pointed out. Immediately, Kopaka looked up at me, or rather through me, with that same piercing gaze that had made me so uncomfortable several times before.

"You know that is not the case," he said solemnly. "The truth matters where it has the potential to help the Matoran; here, it likely would not."

"I suppose…" I relented. Kopaka sighed, then looked down again. We sat in silence for a minute or so before he spoke up again.

"I believe I have one last promise to fulfill," he said.

"The final battle, yes," I nodded.

"What you call "the Final Battle" was the Battle for Bara Magna," Kopaka explained. "That I will show you."

"Wait, there was another one?" I asked, but Kopaka wasn't inclined to answer.

"Focus on me," he said. "Focus."


	32. Chapter 32

I'm in the tunnel again… I remember this place, though I can't say exactly where it is. In the dim light all around me, I see others… other Toa. There's Lewa, and Onua, and Gali… Takanuva towers over most of us, and there's some more who I don't recognize, including a full team armed with variations of shields and spears. All of us are looking forward, to a door or hatch of some kind that appears to mark the end of the tunnel. Kneeling in front of it, Tahu and another Toa of Fire are tampering with what looks to be a locking mechanism, heating it up in hopes of either making it cooperate and open or melting it altogether… we want out, we oh so desperately want out. A deep rumbling sound suddenly echoes through the space. We're all on edge, looking around, wondering where it has come from as the whole tunnel begins to shake like an earthquake. However, it's… muffled somehow. This isn't a violent shaking, more a damped rocking back and forth that lasts for a couple of seconds, leaving the tunnel intact. I notice now that, in the reflection of the fire, this is not a natural tunnel; it is lined with metal plates, and we're standing on a rusty, corrugated floor. The space is cavernous; the diameter of this tunnel has to be at least fifty feet, and the whole thing feels almost… industrial. Our attention is drawn upwards again as a thunderous voice echoes from everywhere:

"SO YOU FOUND YOUR WAY HERE, BROTHER…" it says in a slow, deliberate manner, but the sheer scale of whatever must be producing a voice like this makes everything it says take on a deeply threatening tone.

"We've arrived somewhere…" a Toa near me mumbles.

"Where?" another asks. I have no answer, nor does anyone else.

"We'll find out soon!" Tahu assures us.

"AND YOU HAVE COME AT LAST, TO TRY AND FINISH ME, NO DOUBT," another voice, slightly higher in pitch but no less threatening, calls out. It's coming from outside, I'm pretty sure, and it sounds slightly muffled by distance.

"THIS IS WHERE YOU END, BROTHER," the first voice declares as we start to feel some… movement. It's slight, but it feels like the floor is tilting, yet none of us are falling. Another deep, loud crashing sound is followed by what I can only describe as an earthquake aftershock. All of us Toa stand, weapons at the ready, gaze still fixed on the door. At last, Tahu appears to be making progress; he's reduced what was once a formidable locking mechanism to a red-hot, molten mass of metal, which a Toa of Iron is gradually guiding way from its original position on the door.

"Stand back!" Tahu announces as he stands up and takes a few steps back himself. He points at another Toa, one armored in purple and grey… a Toa of Gravity. "Open the door!" he orders. The Toa of Gravity obliges, kneeling down and focusing his power on the door, forcing it outwards… it creaks, it buckles, but then suddenly, with a tremendous crash, it blasts away, revealing a bright light beyond, so bright that everyone has to close their eyes or look away until they adjust… after a few seconds, Tahu shouts another order: "Out! Get out now!" As one, we start charging forward through the opening. A few feet below, a soft yellow-white sand awaits us. After landing, I look back for a moment; the tunnel we escaped leads into a titanic, metal structure, a monolithic skyscraper that reaches up into the dust cloud created by the hatch landing in the fine sand not far away. More Toa come leaping out, landing all around me as we proceed to dash away, up into the dunes. A great shadow is cast over the landscape as, miles above us, something moves in a swinging motion. Moments later, a gargantuan crashing sound, followed by another. I reach the top of the dune shortly after Tahu and look back again; the dust has begun to settle, and now I can see more clearly. The gods themselves are fighting above us. Two enormous robots, Toa-like in stature yet tall enough to reach the stars themselves, are engaged in a terrible fistfight, grappling and launching beams of light at each other, each act accompanied by a deafening racket of clanging metal, enormous creaking joints, and a constant yet almost deafening drone with each laser beam. The hatch we escaped from was located near the sole of the foot of one of them, and now it proceeds to rise up into the air again as the titan takes another step forward.

"YOU ARE WEAK, MATA NUI! YOU ARE OCCUPYING A PROTOTYPE, A LESSER VERSION OF EVERYTHING I COMMAND!" it declares. There is a distinct rage to the way in which this… thing, this being taunts its adversary.

"THAT MAY BE, BUT I AM NOT ALONE!" said adversary responds.

"BROTHER… NEITHER AM I!" the robot we escaped from says. Now there's satisfaction, confidence… whoever this is knows they are going to win this most colossal of undertakings. My fellow Toa and I can do naught but stand and tremble at what is going on.

"Halt! Who goes there!?" A voice suddenly declares from behind me. I turn, as do my companions, to find a green Glatorian standing on the next dune over, maybe a hundred feet away from us.

"They came out of the Makuta!" another Glatorian appears beside the first; a female from the water tribe. "They must be his minions!"

"No, we are not!" Tahu protests, but more Glatorian appear over the dune and it is already too late. To my great surprise, the green Glatorian points one of his blades at us, then unleashes a cyclone. I dive down, barely dodging out of the way, but am then blasted by a jet of water from his companion. Some of the other Glatorian proceed to hurl various elemental blasts at us as well; Tahu activates his Kanohi Hau to shield some of them, while others dodge out of the way. The Toa respond in kind; now it's a full-blown fire-fight, all elements being thrown back and forth over my head. From behind my shield, I hurl freezing bolts at any Glatorian that pokes over their dune; Tahu sweeps the place wholesale with a wave of fire, while Lewa is conjuring up cyclones and sending them in the general direction of the Glatorian, who now appear thoroughly outgunned.

"STOP!" A voice suddenly calls out, barely audible over the mayhem. In fact, it's two voices… I look over from behind my shield to find that Gali and Pohatu are standing almost halfway between the dunes, back-to-back, each facing one of the warring sides. They appear to have… shape-shifted somehow; their armor and weapons have changed. Pohatu now sports a set of helicopter rotors on his arms, while Gali's mask and arms have sprouted small, aerodynamic fins, and a bulky set of rocket boosters has appeared on her legs.

"What are you doing!?" I call out, but they begin to rise into the air, Pohatu with his rotors and Gali with the rockets, both looking up at the flood of elemental attacks being launched back and forth overhead. Coming into view of the Glatorian, they immediately come under fire; Gali, who's facing that way, conjures up a wall of water to shield them, while Pohatu creates a solid wall of stone on his side.

"STOP IT!" they call again, and now that the two sides can't see each other anymore, they are actually listened to. The Toa and Glatorian fall silent; I can't see what's going on beyond the stone wall, but by the sound of things, Gali has dropped the wall of water.

"We are not Makuta's minions!" she calls out.

"What are you, then!?" a skeptical voice sounds from the Glatorian side.

"We are Toa!" Gali continues. "We serve Mata Nui; the body we just escaped from was stolen by Makuta!" There is no reply for a moment; I use my Akaku to see through the stone wall and find that the Glatorian are turning towards each other, apparently discussing what they just heard. "And who are you?" Gali asks in return.

"We know Mata Nui," an older looking Glatorian stands up. "We fight for him."

"Hey, it seems we're on the same side, then," Pohatu points out. "Could we, I don't know, stop throwing things at each other?" In spite of the gravity of the situation, there's a lighthearted sarcasm in his words.

"Prove it!" the female Water Glatorian shouts, holding a trident at the ready.

"You ask for proof at a time like this!?" Tahu shouts over the wall. "What do you know of Mata Nui!?"

"He made us Toa," the old Glatorian replies, somewhat more calmly. "And yes, I believe we can stop throwing things at each other."

"Wonderful!" Pohatu exclaims, relinquishing his control over the stone wall, which rapidly crumbles to dust. The firing doesn't resume, but the air is still tense.

"We are Toa too." The old Glatorian steps forward. "Some of us are, at least. I am Ackar, and I know Mata Nui."

"You do, huh?" Pohatu says as he and Gali descend back to the ground.

"He's a friend of ours," the Water Glatorian adds, "and he's in some real trouble right now. We're here to help him."

"Help him against that?" Tahu gestures at the giant robot, occupied by Makuta, standing over and behind us.

"We're trying to keep everyone here safe," Ackar explains, "but if you know of a way to make things more difficult for the Makuta, I'm all ears."

"There's many more trapped inside," Tahu begins, but the thundering voice of the Makuta overhead cuts him off.

"YOUR SO CALLED FRIENDS ARE GATHERED BELOW, BROTHER…" he taunts. "THEY CHOSE THE WRONG SIDE; I'LL MAKE THEM PAY." We all look up, angry and terrified, as the titan lifts up his arms and multiple hatches on the sides of his body open up; they're mere dots at this distance, but there appears to be… some kind of swarm emerging. I zoom in with my scope to get a better view;

"Rahkshi!" I recognize them immediately; hunched over, metal creatures armed with spines and staffs. There must be hundreds of them, armored in a bright yellow with red, glowing eyes.

"Heat Vision Rahkshi!" Another Toa shouts, an identification that is confirmed within moments as some of the leading Rahkshi proceed to fire bright-red rays from their eyes on their way down. They can't do much at this range, but they're closing fast.

"WATCH, BROTHER, WATCH AS MY SONS END THE MISERY OF THOSE YOU FAILED TO PROTECT!" the Makuta declares, after which he lets out an ominous, deep-throated laugh.

"FAILURE IS NOTHING NEXT TO YOUR BETRAYAL," Mata Nui counters, "AND SOON, YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES AGAINST MY UNIVERSE!"

"YOU WILL NOT STOP ME, BROTHER…" Makuta continues. "YOU NEVER COULD."

"We need to stop those things!" Ackar shouts, pointing up at the incoming horde.

"Already on it!" Tahu declares; I now notice he appears to have deployed a set of wings, and he soares up into the sky. Sporting a similar adaption, I do the same; in fact, all the other Toa Nuva are now, by whatever mechanism their armor is equipped with, taking flight to meet the Rahkshi head-on. Already, our allies below us are firing at any that come within range, picking off a few here and there, and we're doing the same; I shoot freezing bolts at one Rahshi after another, my aim guided by a laser sight that seems to have just… appeared on my mask. Tahu indiscriminately hurls massive blasts of heat and flame upwards, sure to hit something considering the density of enemies in the air above, while Lewa is already whipping up a cyclone, ready to suck in and catch any Rahkshi foolish enough to get close. Gali's adding water to it to make it a full-blown hurricane. Onua and Pohatu are controlling chunks of earth and stone, respectively, guiding them upwards to strike the Rahkshi at incredible velocities, like elemental missiles. Lagging slightly behind, Takanuva makes up for his slow flying by hurling searing beams of light upwards from his lance, taking down multiple Rahkshi with every shot. Yet the swarm above us is overwhelming, and soon we are surrounded, having to fend off enemies from all sides in three dimensions while more of them continue to stream down around us on their way to our allies on the ground. It's proper chaos, this; heat rays being fired in all directions, Lewa and Gali's cyclone now roaring around us as a shield of sorts while the rest of us fire at any target of opportunity; and yet they keep coming, their source, it seems, inexhaustible. All the while, intermittent sounds of thunder and huge, sweeping shadows remind us of the titanic clash happening behind us.

"I can't keep the wind-storm going forever!" Lewa warns us.

"We can't hold anything off without it!" Tahu calls back as he thrusts his sword upwards, goring a Rahkshi that was coming down on him, ready to strike him with its staff.

"If we can't fight them up here, we've got to get down!" Onua suggests.

"On the ground, they at least can't come at us from below!" Gali adds.

"We're the first line up here!" Tahu argues. "WE WILL NOT DRAW BACK!"

"Most of them are going right past us!" Pohatu points out, "We need to meet them on the ground, where our allies are!" Tahu remains quiet, focusing instead on taking out a number of Rahkshi trying to fly in from below. Every second feels like an eternity, but eventually he replies:

"Fine, we'll regroup below!" He declares, hurling one final blast of fire upwards before turning and diving for the battlefield below. Onua, Pohatu, and Takanuva do the same, followed by Gali and Lewa, who allow the storm to dissipate. I don't want to go down, not yet… I can't hope to hold off all the Rahkshi, but I've been sniping them left and right, sending them down, encased in chunks of ice… I line up another shot, take it, and another one goes down; I'm in a trance, it seems, laser-focused on what's coming at me from above… another one down!

"CLANG!" The loud noise right beside me breaks my concentration. Its armor shattered into pieces, a Rahkshi is sent hurtling across my field of view; I look to my right to find Onua hovering right beside me.

"Kopaka! That one almost got you!" he informs me. "Come with us, down, now!" I wait for a few seconds, unsure of what I should do; I still don't want to go down… Suddenly, a heat ray almost catches both of us, but I just manage to deflect it with my shield. Onua's right; I can't stay here alone...

"Fine," I relent, turning tail and bolting for the ground, followed closely by the Toa of Earth. Ahead of me, the other Toa Nuva busy themselves by taking out whatever Rahkshi they can on the way down. Leading the way, Tahu turns forward.

"The high ground!" He points a sword to a rocky desert outcrop up ahead. The battle below us has spread around it already; Toa and Glatorian fighting hand-to-hand against the monsters, with elemental blasts thrown into the mix. The first to land, Tahu immediately knocks down a Rahkshi that was using the position to rain heat rays into the melee below. Within seconds, the rest of us arrive; slightly isolated from the battle, we can catch our breath and take stock of the situation. The Rahkshi outnumber us at least two to one, it seems, but Takanuva, who elected to land in the middle of the fray, is starting to turn the tide already; Light truly is a devastating weapon against minions of Shadow, capable of cooking them in their shells in moments.

"Heads up!" Pohatu calls out, hurling a boulder up at another opportunistic Rahkshi trying to come down on us.

"Hang on…" Gali looks upwards, specifically, to the openings on the Makuta from which the Rahkshi were spilling forth.

"What is it!?" Tahu demands.

"I think they're slowing down!" Gali points out.

"By Mata Nui, she's right…" Onua agrees. We all look up, and even at this distance, it does seem like the flood of Rahkshi has started to slow to a crawl.

"Good," Tahu concludes. "We'll only have to deal with what's here."

"YOUR MINIONS WILL NOT BUY YOU VICTORY, MAKUTA!" Mata Nui declares over our heads as he launches yet another series of lasers at his foe. "THE TOA AND GLATORIAN WILL TRIUMPH!"

"YOU THINK I'VE RUN OUT!?" the Makuta replies almost mockingly. "NO, BROTHER… I GOT BORED OF THEM, AND I'VE GOT PLENTY OF WILLING ALLIES ON THIS PLANET ALREADY!" He reaches back with one hand, casting a shadow over our entire battlefield, but it's aimed right over our heads, at the dark, jagged looking spikes on the horizon beyond. Suddenly, a stupendous blast of shadow energy launches from his palm, hurtling towards the mountains… but instead of striking them full-force, it rapidly dissipates along its way, turning into a dark, ominous fog that descends over the entire range.

"What was that for!?" Tahu demands, but none of us have an answer, and the Makuta appears to be turning his attention back to Mata Nui.

"LET'S SEE, BROTHER, HOW THEY DEAL WITH THAT!" he declares.

I turn my attention back to the mountains, trying to use my scope to pick out any details of what exactly happened out there. A few tense seconds pass… I think I see movement. In fact, there's a lot of it.

"The mountains!" I alert the other Toa, who had turned their attention back to sniping Rahkshi out of the air and the melee below. They turn and look, just as a dark blotch seems to start spilling forth from between the jagged spikes.

"What's that!?" Tahu exclaims.

"Something bad, I'm guessing," Pohatu chimes in.

"Oh yes," I concur; zooming in on the blotch's leading edge, I can see what it's made off… Skrall. Hundreds of them. "Something very bad…"


	33. Chapter 33

"Well, what is it!?" Tahu demands.

"I do not know," I reply, much to my own surprise. Those are Skrall! How do I not know? "Definitely not friendly, though, and wielding the element of Shadow, by the look of them." I notice a number of shadow bolts being hurled ahead of the black horde as they reach the dunes.

"Great…" Lewa sighs. "More Shadow-Men!? After Karda Nui?"

"Our allies should know more about them," Gali suggests. "It's their planet, after all."

"Good thinking," Tahu replies. He turns and walks back to the edge of the escarpment. "Cover me," he says as he deploys his wings again. "I'm going to check with Ackar about what's going on." Gali, Pohatu, and Onua nod immediately and take up positions along the edge as well, watching and covering Tahu as he flies down to the melee below.

"Over here!" I shout; a number of Rahkshi are making their way up to our position behind us. I duck as one of them launches up a heat vision ray. Lewa immediately turns to face our aggressors.

"Enough of you!" he declares. "Can't you see we have more important stuff to deal with over there!?" He points out with one of his blades at the Skrall, who are rapidly approaching, but are still well behind the Rahkshi, then rapidly raises it sky-high, commanding the air around the Rahkshi to surge upwards, whipping up tons of dust in the process. "Have fun, Kopaka!" he declares as everyone but me is momentarily blinded by the cloud; my Akaku allows me to see the stunned and confused Rahkshi clearly. I move in among them, felling them with my blades as they, panicked, stab with their staffs in random directions, hitting nothing but the ground and each other. For a few seconds, it's as though I'm a phantom to them, and by the time the dust begins to settle, none are left standing. "Not bad," Lewa nods, smiling as I make my way back up to our position.

"DISENGAGE!" I suddenly hear a voice shout over the fight below.

"What the…" Lewa and I quickly move to the edge where Gali, Pohatu, and Onua are already standing, trying to figure out what's going on below. The voice was Ackar's, and all over the field the Glatorian start to draw back, leaving the Toa to fight the remaining Rahkshi, who seem to make little effort to harry their retreating foes. Flying back out from the carnage is Tahu, and boy do we have some questions for him.

"What are they doing!?" Gali demands as Tahu reaches our position.

"Their… their villagers, their Matoran…" Tahu explains, "they're hiding over there." He points over our heads in the direction of the Skrall horde, who are still rapidly covering ground, and… are pursuing something. Small figures running about the dunes. Are these the Matoran that Tahu's speaking of? They look more like Agori to me. "I told him we'd handle the remaining Rahkshi," Tahu continued, "while they go protect their people."

"Sounds like a plan," Pohatu agrees. "We should be able to handle what's left, right?" Looking down and around us, it's obvious that dead Rahkshi are everywhere, but their staggering numbers mean that many are still bearing down on us and the other Toa down below; most of the Glatorian are already heading in the direction of the Skrall and the hapless Agori.

"I don't have much fire left," Tahu admits, "and no doubt we're all feeling the strain, but I have my swords, and I swear these Rahkshi will come to know them well!"

"Better not waste time," Onua notes, having already deployed the rocket boosters that grant him flight. He leaps off of our high ground. The rest of us follow suit, and before long, we all land in the middle of the battleground, knocking down several Rahkshi in the process.

"REGROUP! FORM CIRCLES!" Tahu orders at the top of his lungs. With Rahkshi swarming all around us, it's our best option; standing in a circle, each of us facing outwards and fighting off what comes at us from the front by whatever means necessary, knowing that our back is covered by all the others. All over the battlefield, other Toa are already doing the same, grouping up around whatever feature provides even a modicum of cover, or at least serves as a landmark to rally around. I want to conserve what elemental energy I have left, and resort to fighting swords-and-shield against the incoming Rahkshi. I decapitate one while maneuvering my shield to block the staff of another, then wheel around, bringing my upper sword down to slice said staff in two. A lunge plants the sword straight through the creature's chest and up into its back, goring the slug-like abomination controlling the armor from inside. I barely withdraw my sword in time to block a third Rahkshi, coming at me from the right; for a moment, our weapons are locked, both of us pushing to try and bring ours down on the other, but I have my shield, which I thrust forwards under the Rahkshi's staff to knock its legs out from under it, causing it to fall down flat on its face; I plant my lower sword into its head to ensure it will not rise again, then raise my shield, providing cover while I look to see how those behind me are doing.

Tahu is positioned to my left; he lacks a physical shield, obviously, but is making generous use of his mask to conjure up spectral ones to block staff strikes from the Rahkshi in front of him, then exploits the momentary confusion on their part to hack them down in spades. He doesn't aim for the head or back, specifically; the surgical strike isn't his style. Instead, he goes for whatever's exposed, whether that means hacking off an arm, a leg, or a head with wide, reckless, occasionally flaming slashes that would seem to leave him dangerously exposed. In doing so, he's taunting the Rahkshi to come close, but his guard is never as down as it seems, and inevitably they are maimed or killed outright. Tahu's reveling in this, dominating his foes through a mix of tactics and brutal strength, fighting not just for his own survival, but also that of everyone else here, for the lives of everyone still trapped inside the titanic Makuta. I do not know whether or not the Makuta feels the deaths of his wicked creations, but if he does, Tahu must be causing him a splitting headache.

Fighting to his left is Gali, wielding her twin axes in, perhaps, a far more controlled manner. Her mask provides her no benefit here, and she can't take the time to switch, but agility and acrobatics make her a difficult target nonetheless; she dodges a staff left, then right, weaving herself between two Rahkshi only to bring an axe down on both their necks, cleanly decapitating both. A third Rahkshi attempts to strike her with a low sweep of its staff, but a jump, a flip, and another axe swing bring its plans to a halt, and puts my sister back in her position in the circle, just in time to whack a fourth staff out of the way. She keeps her axes going in a continuous, swinging motion, a constantly changing pattern that exploits the momentum of the heavy weapons to deliver a series of devastating strikes that break staffs, limbs, and anything else in their way while leaving the Rahkshi no opening to exploit. She jumps, flips, turns and twists through the blurred, silver streaks, a near-liquid form in a ferocious, yet tightly controlled and almost elegant dance of destruction that the Rahkshi simply don't have an answer to.

Next in line, and directly opposite me, Onua revs up his weapons, a set of chainsaw-like devices that easily outweigh Gali's axes and make for very potent armor breakers; he merely has to make contact with a Rahkshi for the rapidly spinning threads to proceed shredding off plates and whatever lies beneath, and while he can't deflect or dodge blows the way Gali can, he doesn't need to. The Toa of Earth's thick armor easily absorbs the impact of the Rahkshi staffs, and in a melee this close they don't dare to use their heat vision. Heedless of whatever they do, Onua simply raises up the howling contraptions and brings them down on the heads of whichever Rahkshi are closest, easily ripping off the armor plates and making mince-meat of the slugs inside, a display vicious enough to make any others think twice about approaching him. Yet, pressured by ever more of their kind pushing up behind, the Rahkshi move forward, trying vainly with their staffs to find a weak spot in the armor. Their attempts are curtailed as Onua activates his mask and swings his weapons upwards with all his might, sending two more Rahkshi flying backwards in pieces from the sheer force of the impacts.

"A-ha! Saw ya coming!" Lewa declares, parrying a staff coming at him with one sword while thrusting forward with the other, planting it cleanly into the neck of the staff's owner, who falls to the ground with a disgusting, gurgling sound as wisps of shadow energy erupt from the resulting gash. "Not today," Lewa mockingly declares, attracting the attention of a number of other Rahkshi, all of which begin to converge on him. The Toa of Air responds by leaping into the air, tumbling over as he parries their first strike. "And one…" he exploits the tumble by bringing his other sword down to block another, "…and two, and three…" he whirls his swords back and forth, parrying more staff thrusts in the process. He lands behind the Rahkshi that attempted to hit him, swinging a sword to his side to block the strike of a fourth, "…and four." He stands up, spins around, and gives a sly smile. "My turn." Suddenly, it's as though his swords become a silver blur; he charges forward, spinning wildly, slashing in every direction and delivering numerous cuts to the monsters. Having reached his position in the circle again, he stops. "And… fall," he says; the Rahkshi he just mowed through fall down behind him in pieces. Lewa doesn't even look, knowing he finished them already, but it's not long before more come up to take their place, and the Toa of Air has to turn to face them again. "More!?" he asks, feigning surprise. "Oh, it must be my lucky day!"

Lastly, fighting beside me and with decidedly fewer words, is Pohatu. He doesn't have swords, axes, or anything like that; no, a small set of curved, blunt pieces of metal affixed to his wrists are all he needs. They're hinged, like claws or pincers, and just as he dodges a staff coming down to his left, the Toa of Stone reaches out and uses them to grab onto the arm of the Rahkshi it belongs to. He pulls back, dragging the creature down, exploiting the movement to plant his knee under its chin, producing a distinct 'crack!' as the yellow, armored form goes limp. Pohatu drops it, then turns his attention to two more coming from his right; they sweep low with their staffs, perhaps intending to floor the Toa, but he doesn't let them, leaping up and delivering a roundhouse kick to both of their faces. More crunching sounds, and more fallen Rahkshi, and upon landing Pohatu picks up one of their staffs, swinging it upwards to block a strike from a fourth trying to advance on him from behind. Knocked off balance by the upward impact from the Toa's stolen weapon, the creature staggers back, and hasn't even regained its balance by the time Pohatu leaps forward and delivers it a kick to the chest, knocking it prone. He plants his staff into its waist, pinning it to the ground; part of the Rahkshi's carapace opens up, revealing the hideous head of the slug inside, which splits into three sections, each squirming and hissing at the Toa in a vain attempt to retaliate in spite of being pinned down. In response, Pohatu produces a fist-sized rock and shoves it down onto the exposed slug, squishing it and ending the disgusting sounds it was producing.

"You okay!?" He turns and calls to me, dropping the staff.

"Do you need to ask?" I turn back and plant a sword into the chest of a Rahkshi that's been trying to get past my shield for a while now. It hisses, gargles, makes all sorts of revolting noises, but I quickly end it by sending a bolt of freezing cold down my blade, turning the slug inside in to an icicle; another Rahkshi down.

"I guess not," Pohatu smiles as he raises his right arm to catch the staff of another Rahkshi coming at him. He twists around, dragging the creature past himself and tripping it in the process, causing it to land right at my feet. "Have at it," he invites, before turning his attention to the prone Rahkshi's companions. I ensure that this particular one won't bother us again by planting my lower sword into the top of its head, right where the armor splits, then return to making sure none of the Rahkshi in front of me get past.

"You deal with yours," I remind Pohatu, "and I will deal with mine."

"Whatever you say," Pohatu replies, but in the heat of battle the conversation goes no further. All my concentration is now on holding off the Rahkshi, whose lines do indeed seem to slowly, surely, be thinning, and they're becoming all the bolder and more reckless for it. Surely, there can't be much left in these Toa? True, I should be getting tired, but… I'm not. I fight on, only feeling stronger, more alert, taking the Rahkshi one by one. It's like I'm entering a trance, acting automatically, recognizing how to parry or block their swings and thrusts and instantly calculating how to respond; my brain is running at a million miles per hour; my vision blurs around the edges, but my target is always crystal-clear. I should be out of breath; my muscles should feel like they're on fire, but I'm not and they don't, and none of it matters. I will survive! I will beat them! Another one goes down, victim to my blade. The next one comes with an overhead swing. Dodge left, slash downwards onto head. Done. Another one tries to sweep low. Jump forward, bash the shield into its face. It's dazed. Go for the neck. Done. Two more stab at me. Turn and block with shield. Blocked successfully. Step forward and slash right-to-left with both swords. Their staffs are cut in two. Step forward again and slash back. They're finished. Another one on my left! Block. Step forward again, spin around. Plant lower sword into its chest. Finished. Next!

The cacophony of the battle around me is fading now. The shouting, the clanging of metal against metal, the screaming and hissing of the Rahkshi, it's all blending into a droning noise... I spin around again and again, fighting off Rahkshi on all sides. Block left, slash right, turn, stab backwards, jump, parry, dodge, thrust forwards. Freeze! Retract blade, block left again, parry right, spin around and slash both! The droning has become a pulsing, throbbing sound, a heartbeat racing out of control. My vision… my vision is blurring more and more, an increasingly tight window through which I have to focus on my enemies. Argh! A sudden stab of pain in my head; I close my eyes. Did one of them get me!? No, there's no wound, it's just a headache. ARGH! Another one! I shake my head. I must go on. Parry right again, twist into lunge… Argh! Again! My vision's blurred now to the point where I'm effectively blind, yet I know I'm still fighting. Block again; I can feel the impact in my shield arm. The heartbeat's getting louder, each beat sounding like an enormous, terrifying drum, and each accompanied by an awful burst of pain in my head. I'm spinning again, I think, I don't know; I can't see. It's sickening. I feel pressure in my arm and hand; something is pushing against it. A stab, a thrust? Argh! Headaches! Damn it! I can't fight like this! Yet… I am, I think. I don't know any more! My vision's going black; what's going on? I'm still spinning, spinning out of control; I must be. I'm feeling sick, the heartbeats merge into a constant, deafening noise. Someone's driving nails into my head! It's… what's going on? I can't take this!

AAAARRRGHHH!


	34. Chapter 34

"Ugh…" I slowly opened my eyes. I… I was lying on the floor, my ears were still ringing, and I had a splitting headache. "What happened?"

"You suffered a seizure," Kopaka said. I looked up to find him still sitting where he had been before the final battle started, wearing a very different mask than usual; a noble Komau.

"Everything just, just shut down…" I remembered as I got up, still disoriented.

"You are recovering," Kopaka pointed out. "Some kind of neural overload. You were out for four hours."

"Overload seems right," I sat down on my chair, still holding my head in my hands. Now I had some idea what Pohatu felt like on a bad morning. Or Lerome and Kirall, for that matter. "That battle got pretty intense, huh?"

"Battles usually do," Kopaka said, straying as close to deadpan humor as I'd ever seen him come. He switched back to the Akaku Nuva.

"So, four hours?" I looked over to find two of my teammates still passed out in their seats. "Jahlpu didn't come back, did he?"

"No."

"Still cleaning, I guess…" I looked out the window; the terrain outside was rocky and mountainous, indicating we were real close to Onu-Koro-Nuva. Sunrise wasn't far away. "So, we're pretty close, then, I guess…"

"About an hour," Kopaka replied.

"So, what about the rest of that battle?" I wondered.

"You saw most of the important parts," Kopaka concluded. "How we got here, the fight between the Makuta and Mata Nui, the arrival of the Skrall…"

"But how did it end?" I insisted. "I mean, I know how, but what did it look like?"

"Skakdi joined in on Makuta's side," Kopaka remembered, "but they were few in number and too late to help the remaining Rahkshi. The Glatorian eventually beat off the Skrall. Makuta's head got hit by a falling planet as the reformation started. That is how it ended, and I will not risk your brain in trying to show you."

"Fair enough…" I sighed. I'd have asked for more if it wasn't for the fact that I already got more than I bargained for. We sat quietly for a while.

"Ah, man…" I heard Lerome cringe; looking over, I saw that he'd switched to sitting up and was rubbing his temples with his thumbs, clearly nursing the aftermath of the party from the day before. After a minute or so, he looked over in my direction. "Hey Lis and… mysterious guy." He waved.

"Getting better?" I called back.

"Working on it…" Lerome replied, then got up, standing somewhat unsteadily at first. He made his way down the car towards us and slumped into a seat next to me. "It was great, you know… really great. You totally should've been there."

"I was there, remember?" I pointed out.

"You were?" He looked at me curiously, but then seemed to recall something. "Oh, right, you were…"

"I didn't stay long," I added.

"Aw, too bad…" Lerome trailed off. "Had to keep this… specter here company, right?" he snickered. Kopaka'd already pulled up his hood, though I figured there wasn't much chance of him being recognized by Lerome either way.

"Yup." I nodded.

"Wonderfully boring times, I'm sure," the Toa of Air sighed. He waited for a minute, then got back up. "I'll… I'll be back." He wandered back to the front of the car, where he vanished through the doorway. Moments later, Kirall woke up too, but she didn't so much as glance in our direction; she got up, stretched a bit, moaned about a headache, and then headed in the same direction Lerome did. Kopaka made no comment through the whole thing, and I wasn't inclined to ask him. It wasn't long before Jahlpu returned, though.

"Well, they're up," he informed me as he came walking down the length of the car towards us.

"Yeah, I noticed," I replied. "They're a little out of it, it seems."

"That's normal," Jahlpu assured me. He was looking pretty out of it himself. "Anyways, we're all getting some breakfast in the concessions car, if you're interested. We'll probably stay there until the train stops… which looks to be pretty soon." He glanced out the window.

"I might join later," I replied.

"Alright, see you there, then," Jahlpu nodded. For a moment, he looked to Kopaka, still with a degree of suspicion, but then turned and headed out. Again, we sat quietly for a while… I watched as the sun began to rise over the mountains outside, going over the last few days in my mind again… there was one burning question left, and now was the time to ask it.

"So… this is it, then?" I began.

"Hm?" Kopaka looked up.

"I mean, I'll be getting off here soon, and you'll stay on for Ko-Koro-Nuva… right?" Kopaka nodded 'yes.' "Just, one last thing," I continued. "I want to know why."

"Why what?"

"Why you're going back up there."

"I have told you already. Multiple times." Kopaka's expression fell sour; he knew where this was going.

"You've told me parts, but they don't add up," I continued. "Something's missing."

"I have my duty to the Matoran, which is why I am going up there," Kopaka spelled it out again. "You know that."

"Yeah, you explained that…" I pondered for a moment about how exactly to phrase things, "but shouldn't you pursue your duty in, I don't know… the most effective way possible?"

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, but his souring expression revealed that he already had a clue as to where I was going.

"What Gali suggested, about working in the knowledge towers," I reminded him. "Wouldn't that be better? I mean, you'd have modern equipment, for one…"

"I do not need that," Kopaka said. "I have my own."

"Maybe you do," I continued, "but what if you get killed up there? You got mauled pretty bad last time; if you died up there, no one would ever find what you'd discovered. How does that help the Matoran?"

"That will not happen," Kopaka asserted.

"That's wrong and you know it," I pressed on. "You're not invincible; even you recognize that. You wouldn't be here if you didn't." Kopaka glared at me, but gave no reply. Still, I could tell there was an awful lot running through his head. "So why are you really going up there?"

"You do not understand." His eyes were fixed right on me, that penetrating gaze, but this time that look didn't stop me; he had nothing left to hold over my head, and we both knew it. He'd shown me as much of the final battle as I was likely going to see, and we'd be heading our separate ways in less than an hour regardless; he could neither threaten to leave me nor refuse to show me more, so I'd be a lot more insistent this time than I'd been the day earlier.

"Oh, I think I do," I argued. "Gali did, too. Know what she told me? She said you're not going up there to do astronomy, to chart stars for your duty." Kopaka's eyes widened… indignation , I could tell "Yeah, maybe you've convinced yourself of that," I continued, "but you're not going up there for the Matoran's benefit. If you were really doing astronomy for them, you'd be in New Atero right now, or at the very least in Ko-Koro-Nuva, and you know it. No, you're going up there because you want to be alone, to be away from everyone."

"Lis…" he scowled.

"No, it makes perfect sense." This time, I shut him down. "I saw it in that dream; what shadow Kopaka told you. You're better than them, they'll only slow you down… you really believe that, don't you? That's why you keep yourself so detached: you're above them, you don't need them." Okay, maybe that was pushing it a little far, but at this point I was provoking him on purpose, and boy did it work.

"Shadow Kopaka does not exist anymore," he insisted. "He was defeated, destroyed, and what you saw was the product of a drugged mind. I told you to disregard it; it will not lead to any truth."

"You'd like to believe that," I countered, "and yeah, physically, he doesn't exist anymore. But he's still a part of you, and you're still trying to prove yourself to him, to yourself. You wanted to believe him when he said you needed no one; that's why you're going up into the mountains. Out there, no one can help you, you're forced to be independent, and you want it that way. You want to prove you're better than them, that you can handle yourself, especially now that they've fallen."

"I am already the last Toa Nuva left," Kopaka scowled. "If what you are insinuating is true, and it is not, then would that not be proof enough?"

"You don't need to prove it to them; you need to prove it to yourself," I continued, "and surviving isolated and alone is the only way you can do that. Screw the Matoran, screw your duty; you need to be alone because you have that image of yourself, an ego you need to satisfy, and you just can't rationalize that. It doesn't compute to you; that's why you could never give me a straight answer. You can analyze and understand everyone except yourself!"

"Lis…" His eyes were shooting daggers at this point, but I was only getting started. All the questions I didn't get to ask, everything that I'd struggled with about him… it all came pouring out.

"And you know, I wouldn't care." I stood up and started pacing back and forth. "I wouldn't care about it if you didn't try to be the moral high ground all the time. All this talk about duty, about honor, about what it means to be a Toa, and here you are throwing it out the window for your own selfish reasons! Not only that, but two of your fellow Toa are languishing back in New Atero, and you could be working back there and helping them at the same time! You're the only person who could save Gali at this point, the only one who might have a chance at getting Pohatu out of his death spiral, but no, you're going to abandon them too! And I guarantee you're going to get yourself killed up there in those mountains. You're going to die, you're going to let those you fought with die, and you're going to abandon your duty all because of your stupid self-delusion!"

"YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND MY DUTY NOR THE WAY I CHOOSE TO FULFILL IT!" Kopaka suddenly exclaimed as he, too, rose to his feet, now standing face to face with me. He was furious. "You spent days following me and probing my mind, and you still do not have the slightest idea why I do what I do! You violated my privacy, you bothered me at every turn with pointless questions, and now you think you understand! You are wrong, Lis, and I was willing to tolerate you so far, but this is enough! I have fulfilled my one promise to you, so leave! Go rejoin the worthless pretenders that you call your friends, and leave me to fulfill my duty as I see fit!"

I just stood there for a moment… shocked at the harsh reply. Then anger boiled through again, anger at his blatant self-denial, at him calling me stupid and wrong when I tried to point out the harsh truth about him. "Fine!" I blurted out. "You know, I thought you could see reason, or at least give me some explanation, but to see you abandon it like this…" I was at a loss for words. He just glared back, his face locked in anger, not even blinking.

"You actually thought you could stop me," he said, no longer shouting but with a voice that sounded almost sadistic and cruel, like he found a certain pleasure in this twisted 'victory.' "You thought you had found what I could not explain, to stop me from going about my duty simply because you were not satisfied. You are wrong, Lis; you have only found what you cannot understand, and I have no reason to explain it to you. You have lost that privilege. Now leave."

That just took the self-denial to a whole new level; I was done. "Damn you… never mind. You've already damned yourself." I shook my head, then turned around and started to walk away, trying to hide the fact that I was welling up in tears. You know, over the last few days I'd alternatingly resented him and looked up to him, but having seen the proud and noble warrior on the outside, I found it genuinely gut-wrenching to find how low he could sink if pushed beyond his comfort zone. He said nothing as I went, forward through the cart, past the two buckets still sitting on the floor where I'd left them, and eventually reached the door. I turned around one last time; he hadn't moved a muscle, still standing there, staring me down even as I walked away. At that point, I really saw shadow Kopaka in him… the expressions were one and the same. I turned away again and walked out.

I was one part angry, furious even, disappointed, and sad all the same. I wanted to scream, to run, to turn back and smack sense into him… a whirlwind of emotions were running through me. For better or worse, for five days I'd followed him, tried to decipher him, hoping to learn from him… and I had figured him out, or at least I thought I did. Yet, his utter inability to turn that critical lens through which he analyzed everyone else on himself was bitterly disappointing, and the fact that he could really make a difference if he did was downright infuriating. I stopped in the third car from the back, realizing that I couldn't afford to show up in front of my teammates like this; they'd ask a lot more questions than I was willing to answer, and I needed time to calm down, to think… the car was empty; most of the passengers had moved forward, to the cars from which they could disembark once the train reached the station, now only minutes away. I sat down, cried, cursed under my breath, but I got myself under control. After waiting a few minutes and wiping the tears off of my mask, I decided it was time to get a move on.

I found my teammates in the dining car, not looking all that great themselves. Jahlpu still looked tired, and given that he'd just spent most of the night cleaning out the mess in this car, which looked pretty clean given the state it was in when I last left it, I couldn't blame him. As for Lerome and Kirall… well, they were coming down from one heck of a party, and it showed. All three had empty plates in front of them, and the Toa of Air and Water were both drinking some kind of fruit juice. Judging from the empty glass, Jahlpu'd already finished his.

"Hey, Lis…" Lerome greeted un-enthusiastically.

"Hi," I nodded back, before turning to the bar, which was now staffed by a Fire Tribe Agori, who didn't look all that happy himself. "I'll… I'll have whatever they had, if I can," I said, putting a couple of widgets down on the counter without really bothering to count them. "Will that cover it?"

"It will," the Agori informed me as he reached under the counter, pulled out some kind of prepackaged and heated meal, and then proceeded to pour me a large glass of juice as well.

"Keep the change," I told him as I picked up the plate and drink. He nodded, and I turned and made my way over to the table my teammates had taken up. I took the fourth, empty chair, and proceeded to quietly eat my breakfast without really paying attention to what it was. I honestly didn't care… I was numb, as were my teammates, though for different reasons. The journey'd been exhausting for all of us, and for a while, none of us really felt like saying anything. By the time I finished my meal and the drink, the train was starting to slow down; Onu-Koro-Nuva was right ahead.

"We've arrived," Jahlpu pointed out.

"You think?" Kirall said sarcastically.

"Oh c'mon," Jahlpu continued, "we'll find a place to rest for a while, and then we can play tourist for a bit."

"Yeah, we'll see all the amazing rocks and mounds of dirt," Lerome jested. Jahlpu cast a frown in his direction.

"We won't be staying that long," he told the Toa of Air. "Nothing compared to how long we hung around in Le-Koro-Nuva, anyways."

"That place was fun, though," Lerome mumbled. Jahlpu rolled his eyes, then turned his attention to me.

"You feeling okay?"

"Uh, me?" I wondered for a moment. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine… just tired like you, that's all."

"Is your friend coming?" Jahlpu asked.

"No, no he isn't." I said. "He's going on to Ko-Koro-Nuva, then west from there. He travels a lot." Lying through my teeth, of course, but I really didn't want to discuss Kopaka right then and there.

"Who was he, exactly?" Kirall asked. Oh, great, now she was interested. I had to shut this down before I revealed more than I was willing to answer questions about.

"No one important," I replied. "Just… had a few thoughts on what a Toa should, you know, do."

"Ah… no wonder you ended up with him, then," Lerome grinned.

"Yeah, but I've heard enough," I concluded. "We're back together for now."

"Great," Lerome continued. "We'll be sure to get you into enough parties to catch up."

"C'mon, not now," Jahlpu intervened. "I'm sure you've got some places you'd like to see, right?" he asked me.

"Uh… Le-Koro-Nuva, I guess," I thought out loud.

"Aw sweet!" Lerome perked up at the idea.

"I mean, I'd like to see that stuff you guys saw about Lewa," I continued, realizing the Pandora's Box I'd just opened, but it was too late to shut it.

"Sis, what we did here," Lerome gestured around the car, "it was nothing compared to what the Le-Matoran can pull off. You're gonna be amazed."

"Yeah, sure…" I smiled nervously. The prospect of a Le-Matoran party wasn't all that an exciting one for me. Not anymore.

"We'll get you to throw down properly," Kirall added. "Like you used to. You're like, no fun now."

"Yeah, thanks." I shot her a dirty look.

"Let's worry about that later, okay?" Jahlpu concluded. We could feel the train slowing down again. He looked out the window. "Looks like we're here," he informed us, apparently having spotted the station outside. Less than a minute later, the train came to a complete stop, and what few passengers were in the car with us started to get up and make their way to the car in front, from which they could actually get to the platform. We did the same, and were soon stepping out of the train and into the bright sunlight of day. Squinting and blinking for a minute as our eyes adjusted, we looked around; this was a sizable station, but the platform we'd stepped onto was the only one meant to load and unload passengers; from it, a long elevated walkway led across a leveled-off area with numerous tracks running across it.

"That's where they load all the processed ore from the mines onto trains to be shipped out," Jahlpu informed us as we crossed over the loading area. Two trains were parked there, while a third was being loaded with ore, car by car, by two large cranes. Coming down at the other end of the walkway, we passed a waiting area for passengers and a set of ticket booths, beyond which the station officially ended and we found ourselves standing on Onu-Koro-Nuva's main street. To the left and right, simple wooden and stone buildings made up the above-ground portion of the town. Down the road, a couple hundred feet away from us, a cavernous opening in the side of the mountain that cast its shadow over much of the town lead into the underground portion. Everything looked quite dusty and dirty; this was an industrial town first and foremost. "Looks like there's a place to stay." Jahlpu pointed to the largest building on our left, a long, two-story structure that advertised "Hotel" on a sign by the entrance.

Inside, we found a Po-Matoran manning the counter. Jahlpu stepped forward, introduced himself, and before we knew it he'd gotten us two rooms on the upper floor. Tired and numb, we made our way upstairs and eventually found the rooms. Lerome and Kirall would share one; Jahlpu and I had the other. We walked in, closed the door behind us, noted there were two beds, and each collapsed onto one of them. Within seconds, I was out.


	35. Chapter 35

I shambled back into consciousness around noon, more due to the sunlight spilling into the room than any feeling of refreshment. I lay there for a while, wishing we'd thought to close the curtains before diving for the sheets at dawn, but eventually I relented and got up. Jahlpu was still out cold, and there were no sounds coming from the other room, so I headed downstairs. A telescreen in the hotel's lobby showed preparations for the big game that Hewkii'd been preparing for a night or two before. I grabbed some assorted hotel catering for lunch and watched for a while. At one point, I found myself looking out the window to the station; the train was gone. It would probably be arriving in Ko-Koro-Nuva pretty soon, and shortly thereafter, Kopaka would once again leave the world behind. I sighed thinking about it… yes, I was still mad at him, but it hadn't hit me until then that I probably would never see him again, and neither would anyone else.

"Morning." Jahlpu greeted as he came down the stairs; apparently, he hadn't been quite as out as I thought. I nodded and put my empty plate aside.

"Still morning?" I asked, glancing towards a clock that quite clearly told us that time had passed.

"Morning, afternoon… I don't know," the Toa of Earth shrugged. "Point is, the sun's up and we got some rest. Feeling better?"

"A bit," I admitted. "What did you want to go see here, exactly?"

"Well," he began, pointing at a bulletin board by the hotel entrance, "I think that'd be interesting." I looked at the board to find a poster advertising 'Great Mine Tours' and the hours at which they started; the next would be in two hours.

"Go down there, see where the stuff that everything's made from comes from?" I wondered. "Yeah, that'd be something…"

"There's also a lot of info on Toa Onua and the other Toa Nuva by the statue," Jahlpu continued. "I figured we could check that out first. Whenever Lerome and Kirall get up, that is." He sat down in one of the armchairs facing the telescreen.

"Sounds fine," I agreed. So we watched and waited until, fifteen minutes or so later, our brother and sister came down the stairs as well, looking quite refreshed themselves.

"Whazzup?" Lerome greeted as he made his way down the lobby towards us. He had his poise back, as did Kirall, who followed close behind.

"Afternoon," I replied.

"So it seems," the Toa of Air continued, stopping to look at the game on the telescreen. "Hewkii's on in a bit, isn't he?"

"Hour or two time difference, so… yeah," Jahlpu realized.

"Sweet!" Lerome declared. "I might have to stay and watch that."

"You kinda promised him you'd come with," Kirall reminded him while nodding towards Jahlpu.

"Really? You're the one who's going to hold me to that?" Lerome turned towards her.

"I mean, you practically dragged me over to that Po-Matoran carving display," she retorted with sly smile. "I'm just returning the favor."

"Oh, c'mon!" Lerome exclaimed. "That was fun! They offered to carve a small statue of you, remember?"

"If I'd wanted to stand still for five hours," Kirall pointed out. "And yours broke after like a day."

"I dropped it, okay?" Lerome shot back. "That statue was perfectly fine. And you could've been sitting down if you wanted."

"Yeah… no," Kirall concluded.

"Okay, okay," Jahlpu got up. "Let's get going before you two leave civility behind, shall we?"

"Fine…" Lerome rolled his eyes, We all followed Jahlpu out. Now, with the sun no longer behind the mountain to the west, the whole town looked a lot less gloomy, of no less dusty than before. Even the assorted dull greys and browns that apparently made up the town's entire color palette came alive to some degree under the sun. There weren't many Matoran about; with no train arriving or departing, few had much reason to be hanging around the above-ground portion of the town. No, the activity in Onu-Koro-Nuva happened primarily underground, inside the mountain, and looking down the main street we noted that it led straight there through a seriously big tunnel entrance.

Jahlpu led the way, past the shops and a few other hotels and into the tunnel. Easily a hundred feet wide, with marked lanes for both pedestrians and vehicles, it led us down a gradual slope, past a few carved-out enclaves and Onu-Matoran homes, and soon opened up into what I can only describe as a stupendously large cavern. Easily more than a mile across, the somewhat dusty air made it impossible to distinguish much of the ceiling or anything on the other side, while the underground city of Onu-Koro Nuva lay in six concentric rings below us, each lower than the one outside it. All of it was illuminated by hundreds of lightstones and connected by the main street, which led down through a series of wide steps to the very center where, elevated on a pillar rising from a deep pit, a gargantuan, bronze statue of Toa Nuva Onua was lit by spotlights from all around. Dispersed throughout the space, several enormous, granite columns rose from the cavern floor to the ceiling, decorated with deep carvings and black banners many times the size of the largest billboards I'd seen back in New Atero, proudly displaying an ancient symbol of the Onu-Matoran. Stairs spiraling around the columns, small windows, and bridges connecting them indicated that they, too, were inhabited, not unlike the way in which the giant trees of Le-Koro-Nuva had been colonized by the Le-Matoran. This city's sound was one all its own, though; a mix of normal city noise with an industrial complex working around the clock, conversations in crowds over the clanging of metal against metal in the background, an occasional shout from one end of the street to the other followed by the loud whirring of a large drill, and the sound of minecarts running on elevated tracks from the center, taking ore out of the mine and up to the surface. The scale of it all was simply staggering, and I noticed that even Lerome and Kirall seemed very impressed.

"Far out…" the Toa of Air managed to say.

"This started as a mine, from what I heard," Jahlpu explained. "After they decided to go deeper, this became the new city."

"And what a city… sheesh," I remarked. "Pretty amazing, huh?"

"Spectacular," Jahlpu smiled with more than a hint of pride to his expression. Looking to our right, we noticed a sign advertising 'Great Mine Tours.' "We'll check that out in a bit," our Toa of Earth informed us. "Let's go down and see that statue first." No one argued, so we set off down the stairs towards the center of the cavern.

Underground Onu-Koro-Nuva was nothing if not a hive of activity; Matoran and Agori, mostly Onu-Matoran and ex-Rock tribe members, respectively, were everywhere, many carrying some kind of equipment or tool. Though it was a mine no longer, life in this cavern was still dominated by the mining occupation, it appeared, not least because of the minecarts constantly running on elevated tracks overhead. Barring the fact that it was underground, though, the experience was not unlike what New Atero'd been like for me; we were greeted or at least acknowledged by everyone with a nod, a smile, a wave, a "good day to you, Toa," or something similar; all of it displayed a degree of reverence that I didn't feel we deserved, but I smiled all the same to keep up the appearance. Lerome, Kirall, and Jahlpu were far more comfortable in the spotlight, the latter particularly since these were his people. At one point, he even stopped to chat for a minute with some young Rock Agori, who watched and listened to his 'wise words' with that intense, fascinated attention that only children could muster. Along the way, we passed numerous metal and machine shops, a two markets, an arena in which two old Skrall were instructing a number of younger Glatorian in fighting techniques, and even a full-blown Kolhii field. Everything one would expect to find in a city was here, or at least it had an underground analogue; I'd never seen a place like this.

After a good thirty minutes, we at last arrived at the inner edge of the lowest of the six rings to find that we could go no further. The column on which the 300 ft-tall statue of Onua rested rose from a deep pit; above us, bronze Onua stood, one arm at his side and holding his signature chainsaw-like tools, and the other raised up high over our heads, holding what had to be the largest lightstone I'd ever seen. Looking down, we could see the bright spots of lightstones all along the sides of the pit, some fixed while others were moving, mounted on some kind of mobile equipment or being carried by mine workers.

"Wonder how long it'd take something to fall down there," Lerome remarked.

"Don't try it," Jahlpu warned. "They didn't put a fence around it for nothing." True; the pit was surrounded on all sides by a fence that was a little more than waist-high for a Matoran, but didn't pose much of a barrier for us. Still, there was no way to directly enter the mine here; that was done through one of a number of tunnels that surfaced on the ring above us. This ring, by contrast, was essentially a gigantic clearing, with numerous park benches set up facing the statue, and information screens that presented various facts about Toa Onua and the other Toa Nuva. Souvenir stands of all sorts were set up towards the outside of this ring, and thin, stone columns with mossy ferns planted on top did a half-decent impression of being underground trees. In essence, this was an underground version of a park, the spot in which Matoran and Agori from all over the city came to slow down and relax under the watchful eyes of the Toa whose actions had, according to one of the info screens, made this entire place possible.

"I'm gonna check out those stands," Kirall informed us as she gestured towards one of the souvenir stands close to the stairs by which we'd arrived. She was off before anyone could object; from where we were it seemed the stand sold some kind of jewelry, which was a pretty good reason for it to catch our Toa of Water's attention.

"Is flying legal here?" Lerome inquired.

"Don't see why not, so long as you're careful," Jahlpu shrugged.

"Sweet… be right back," the Toa of Air replied as he pressed his fingers against two particular spots on either side of his waist. We knew what this meant; he was deploying his "wings," a set of screens that attached below his arms and along the sides of his body that allowed him to glide on air currents. Without warning, he conjured a strong updraft to lift himself into the air, whipping up quite a bit of dust in the process and attracting a fair amount of attention from the Matoran and Agori nearby.

"I guess he wants to check out the pillars, maybe?" I wondered.

"Probably…" Jahlpu sighed. "They'll keep themselves entertained," he said disapprovingly, then turned his attention back to the info screen in front of him. It more or less gave a shortlist of what all Toa Onua did shortly before the Reformation and what he'd done since, including founding Onu-Koro-Nuva and finding many of the most productive ore veins still being mined today. A shortlist it may have been, but I noted it was still an impressive array of accomplishments, and Jahlpu seemed no less impressed.

"You weren't kidding when you said he made this place," I noted. "I mean, he worked the mine, he took over for a while after the Turaga died, he founded the ruling council…"

"This place wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him," Jahlpu agreed. The info screens were set up around the entirety of the square surrounding the statue. Moving counter-clockwise around the pit, we found that the second screen detailed Onua's arrival on Mata Nui, and the events leading up to his first confrontation with Makuta Teridax. Next came one on his fight with the Bohrok, then one on the Rahkshi and the coming of Takanuva, one on their journey to Voya Nui… we walked from one screen to the other, reading through each one. We'd made it to the Reign of Shadows by time that Lerome returned, tapping us on the shoulder.

"Hey, guess what?" he asked.

"What?" I asked.

"That tour thing you were talking about, it's gonna start in like twenty minutes," the Toa of Air informed us.

"It is?" Jahlpu looked up, shocked.

"Yeah, it is," Lerome asserted, pointing at a large clock on the side of one of the pillars. "I mean, I'm perfectly happy flying around for a while, but if you miss that tour now you're gonna make us wait longer while you go on the next one, so… shall we get moving?"

"Of course," Jahlpu sighed; Lerome's assessment of what would happen if we missed the tour was accurate, but his attitude about it was bothersome as always, especially to Jahlpu. "Let's get moving," he turned to me. "We can check out the rest of this afterwards, I guess."

"Sure," I shrugged. I could read more about the Reign of Shadows and Onua's post-reformation efforts later. We started back around the square to the stairs from which we'd entered.

"Where's Kirall?" Jahlpu wondered.

"She found a smith, and last I knew she was asking him if he knew how to do surgery," Lerome recalled.

"By Mata Nui…" Jahlpu sighed. I just shook my head; there was only one reason why Kirall would seek out a smith, and 'surgery' summed it up pretty well. Sure enough, about ten minutes later and two rings up, we found our sister standing with an Onu-Matoran smith in the front of his shop, hunched over a table and drawing something on a piece of paper. The dubious expression on the Matoran's face indicated he wasn't entirely comfortable with what she was doing.

"Yo Kirall!" Lerome called out.

"Busy!" she called back without looking up.

"That tour thing's about to start," the Toa of Air informed her as he stepped into the shop. "Seriously, you won't wanna miss it…" he continued with a distinct sarcastic streak to his voice.

"I'll be fine," she insisted. Jahlpu and I'd stopped at the entrance; looking at the paper on the desk, I noticed she'd rather crudely drawn up two figures, each roughly the stature of a Toa if the proportions were to be believed, and with a number of areas circled on the first one. Arrows from each circle leading to the second figure presumably indicated the 'modifications' that she was aiming for; narrower shoulders, wider hips, thinner arms… basically a shortlist of what it would take to give her a more Glatorian-like, 'feminine' physique, and just from looking at the figures it was clear that the procedures involved would be very invasive. Looking over to Jahlpu, I noticed his expression had darkened significantly; he wasn't keen on any of this. Lerome, on the other hand…

"So that's the next step, huh?" he asked, gesturing towards the drawing on the table. "Looks like it's gonna take a while…" He turned to the smith: "Look, I'm sure you're really excited about this job, but she's gonna have to come with us for a while."

"What… hey!" Kirall protested as Lerome threw an arm over her shoulders and started moving her out of the shop.

"We'll bring her back so you can do your operation," Lerome assured the poor Onu-Matoran, who was clearly at a loss for words concerning spectacle unfolding in front of him.

"Hey, you go see the damned mine!" Kirall wrested herself free. "I have other things to get to."

"We all do," Lerome said condescendingly as he reached over and gripped her arm tight, "but you got me dragged down here, so I'm gonna make sure you see it through." He shot her a cruel smile as he dragged her past us, but she relented.

"Fine, asshole, but we ain't leaving right after," she countered. "I can only get this stuff done here, so Le-Koro-Nuva's gonna have to wait."

"Whatever," Lerome dismissed the idea and kept going, now followed by a fuming Kirall. By this point, Jahlpu's expression had gone from disapproval to outright anger, but he kept his mouth shut.

"C'mon, let's go see the mine," I said, hoping to get his mind off of our teammates' behavior. "No use getting angry at them." Granted, given that he'd been stuck with them for the last few months, he probably had every reason to.

"I know…" he sighed as we started and followed behind. "I'm trying."


	36. Chapter 36

By the time we made it up to the starting point of the tours on the uppermost ring of the city, the tour was only a minute away from starting. We hurriedly bought some tickets, then climbed on board the 'train,' which was in reality a bunch of minecarts that had been fitted with seats, just as it was about to leave. The tour guide was an Onu-Matoran who introduced himself as Dosne, who'd apparently served as a mining captain since the days of Mata Nui and was now happy to spend his retirement showing curious visitors around the underground empire he once helped to oversee. The minecarts followed an old track, no longer in use for bringing resources to the surface, which led us through a long, spiraling tunnel to another cavern situated a good half-mile below the city. Looking down from our position on the elevated track, we could see lightstones moving about, and the intermittent sound of pickaxes striking stone and heavier machinery doing its work indicated that this cavern still had some riches left to give. Dosne explained that discovering such caverns had been one of Toa Onua's specialties; he'd discovered this one more than four millennia ago and to this day, it still hadn't been fully cleaned out. Another tunnel led us to a connected cavern that featured an underground lake, a popular break stop for miners who spent most of their lives deeper down and rarely even came up to Onu-Koro-Nuva. Here, the line our carts ran on stopped, and we continued our tour on foot.

A large tunnel containing several rail tracks led us down into the vertical shaft that was the great mine. Looking up, in the very far distance, I could see the stone beams and trusses that supported the enormous weight of the statue in the city, which Dosne pointed out was right above us. Down below, meanwhile, a spiraling path cut into the side of the shaft provided access to hundreds of tunnels that radiated out and away from the shaft to the riches in the surrounding rock. A map of various levels of the mine showed us how each level was like a spider web, with lots of connecting tunnels between the main ones, the central shaft in the center, and the main tunnels snaking from one rich ore deposit to another. Natural caverns, Dosne explained, were particularly sought after, since they could serve as staging points, warehouses, and resource hubs, and also often featured minerals ripe for the taking right at the surface. There were five or six particularly large caverns, and countless smaller ones connected to the tunnel network in one way or another. Amazingly, even though I couldn't have found my way through this place even with a map on hand, it was said that no Onu-Matoran ever got lost here.

To Jahlpu, of course, this was as close as he could come to heaven. He set about the tour with an excitement I'd never seen from him before; he asked all sorts of questions of the tour guide, pointed out things to me and the others along the way, and when we got back to the cavern featuring the lake, explained how various old mining machines that were parked there on display were used. That said, while he was certainly keeping spirits up, both Lerome and Kirall grew increasingly tired and frustrated as the tour went on. They frequently and verbally complained, made sarcastic comments, and generally annoyed me and Jahlpu in particular. In fact, by the time our hour-and-a-half tour of some important locations down the central mineshaft was done and we made it back to the lake, even Jahlpu was getting seriously pissed off at them. Thankfully, there was the opportunity to grab a bite to eat to help shut them up. The lake cavern featured a number of restaurants, intended both for the miners, who could certainly use a good meal after a long day at work, and for tourists like us who were merely stopping by. The tour stopped there for about half an hour, allowing all of us to go grab some quintessential underground cuisine. Unsurprisingly, the flavor of the food was best described as 'earthy,' but it was quite satisfying, and it wasn't long before we set off on the final leg of our tour: the Crystal Palace.

The Crystal Palace wasn't a palace as such; it wasn't even a building. It was a medium-sized cavern filled with striking, milky-white crystals growing from every surface. A small path was suspended inside to allow us to walk through without risking damage to the structures. The crystals emitted a faint glow, which Dosne explained meant that they were some kind of lightstone. However, their light was dim and therefore, rather than mining them out and trying to find another use for them, the Onu-Matoran had decided to keep the cave as-is; a spectacular sight to behold. It had everyone speechless for a while, but after a couple of minutes of picture-taking and marveling at the fact that some of these crystals were over twenty feet long, we backtracked to the cave with the lake and boarded the minecart train to return to the surface. After thanking Dosne for the tour, we found ourselves back on the upper ring of Onu-Koro-Nuva.

"That was amazing," Jahlpu concluded.

"Lots of dirt, dust, and digging," Kirall shrugged. "I don't see how anyone can stand it."

"It's important," Jahlpu continued, "and you're not an Onu-Matoran."

"Uhm, it's a quarter past four," Lerome interrupted, "and that means I can still catch the post-game coverage. So unless you've got some other plans, I'm going back to the surface."

"Actually…" Jahlpu began, but Lerome didn't wait to listen to his reply; he was already on his way up the tunnel to the surface.

"Well, if he's going to do that, I've got some arrangements to make," Kirall decided, after which she turned and headed the opposite way, back into the city and no doubt to the smith she'd been dealing with before the tour began.

"Just hold on a minute," Jahlpu asked, but Kirall ignored him, and I wasn't going to try and stop her.

"Let her go," I said. "All she'll do is grumble about being stuck with us down here anyways."

"True," Jahlpu sighed as we watched Kirall start on her way down the steps to the ring below. "I guess we'll have to see what she shows up with come tonight. Or tomorrow…"

"I'm betting on next week," I said sarcastically.

"Anyways," Jahlpu changed the subject, "what did you think?"

"It was interesting," I replied. "Seeing the way the mine actually operates, and how they go about finding things to bring up to the surface… You really want to work down there, don't you?"

"You kidding?" Jahlpu chuckled. "Of course I do! I mean, where else am I going to, you know, use my skills? I can literally move the earth at my command; how could I not work down there?"

"Fair point," I smiled. He was right; his elemental abilities were giving him a pretty clear option as to what he could do as a Toa, a destiny of sorts that I was still trying to find. We stood silently for a bit, watching the city ahead and below into which our sister had already disappeared. "So, you got any other place you want to check out?" I asked.

"I was going to look around the city for a bit," he replied. "See what living here is like, you know? Who knows, I might just try to get a place now."

"Look at you, settling down," I quipped. "What happened to the great journey of the new Toa heroes?"

"We've got a few places left to visit," Jahlpu acknowledged, "but we've done most of the major cities… and there's no trouble back home anymore. Besides, that was Lerome's idea, remember?"

"Yeah, and you're pretty done with it by now, I suspect."

"Yup."

"Well, I'm going to check out the remaining info on Toa Onua," I decided.

"I'll probably make my way down there eventually," Jahlpu speculated, "but… well, given the time, maybe I can't. We'll see."

"Go find your place," I replied. "I'll make sure to inform you of the rest tonight."

"Sounds good," the Toa of Earth concluded. "I'll see you tonight, then!"

"See ya!"

With that, Jahlpu set off along the ring, presumably looking for some place to rent, while I set off down the path towards the center of the city. In any surface city, this would be the start of rush hour, with Matoran and Agori returning from work to their homes, but this far underground no one seemed to keep much of a day/night schedule; Onu-Koro-Nuva worked around the clock. Once I reached the square, I made my way from one info screen to another until I reached the one Jahlpu and I had left off at. Having finished with the details of the Reign of Shadows, it the next screen picked up at a spot shortly before the Battle of Bara Magna… it took me minute before I realized that I'd seen what was described here before, but from Kopaka's point of view… the story on the screen pretty much confirmed what the Toa of Ice had told me about how the battle ended: the Glatorian finished the Skrall, and the Skakdi showed up too late to help the floundering Rahkshi. A large stone tablet, standing upright along the inner edge of the ring, depicted in carving the moment of Makuta Teridax's death; a piece of Aqua Magna smashing into the back of the Great Spirit Robot's head, demolishing the control center and as such the mind within. Though over ten feet tall and lacking in color, the carving was done in incredible detail, giving a real sense of the cataclysmic magnitude of the destruction. Also quite large and prominently positioned below the title in a thick lower border on the tablet was the signature of the carver: apparently, this carving was "another Hafu original."

I spent a couple minutes looking over the carving, correlating the features within it and on the Great Spirit Robot with what I had seen in Kopaka's memory of the battle. After that, I continued my counter-clockwise trek around the inner ring, to the next information screen, which began the story of what Toa Onua did after the Reformation. Apparently, all of the Toa Nuva had first busied themselves as co-Turaga of sorts; helping the actual Turaga maintain the peace between the peoples from the Matoran Universe and those from Bara Magna. Onua's job had been particularly tough in that regard; integrating the Rock Tribe Agori and the Skrall into the new world was a challenging task, in light of the war they had waged with Bara Magna's other inhabitants before Teridax's arrival on the planet. Still, he managed, in part by locating rich ore veins in the mountains for the Onu-Matoran to get to work on. The largest of these became home to such a large operation that it soon became the location of Onu-Koro-Nuva. Having established the city, Onua spent most of his time here, working front-line in the mines and using his elemental abilities to greatly reduce the time needed to dig new tunnels and locate the mountain's wealth of minerals. In that regard, the breakup of the Toa Nuva didn't affect him much on a practical level; he already spent most of his time away from them, and now they had removed his obligation to periodically head back to New Atero. Unfortunately, the screens didn't give any information on how he felt about the breakup, though they did note that he kept contact with Pohatu and Lewa, especially the latter, long after their team was no more. He had even been present, over 1000 years later, at the Toa of Air's funeral service, the last time that he left Onu-Koro-Nuva, where he had apparently remarked that Lewa had been one of the last "true Toa," a statement delivered with a particularly bitter tone as the Toa of Earth glanced in the direction of Tahu, the only other Toa Nuva who was there.

By that point, I'd made it to the last screen, the inevitable conclusion of the Toa Nuva of Earth's story which I had already known was coming: his death. According to this screen, Onua kept working right until the last days, even though his advanced age and the associated deterioration of his body (plus the fact that mining work had been pretty hard on it to begin with) had made it increasingly difficult for him to work the long shifts. In spite of that, he saw it as his duty to provide for the Matoran and Agori as much as he could for as long as he was able, and a little pain wasn't going to stop him. What did stop him, however, was a side tunnel he elected to dig into a region already notorious for its geological instability; the soft, porous rock that made up a whole layer below the mountain meant tunnel collapses were common, and unfortunately, towards the end of one of his shifts and having dug a particularly long tunnel, Onua found himself victim of one of them. No one could tell exactly where the collapse started, but by the time the rocks settled the entire section of tunnel that the Toa had worked on was no more. A massive search effort was mounted, but it still took nearly two months before the tunnel was cleared his body was recovered, after which a grand funeral procession was held. Turaga, Toa, and Matoran from all over the planet had turned up to pay their respects, though the other remaining Toa Nuva had been notably absent. The tablet concluded the story of the Toa Nuva of Earth with a couple of words from Nuparu, the Toa Mahri of Earth and apparently one of Onua's greatest admirers:

 _"Few are granted the honor to be Toa, and fewer still know what the title means, but only one Toa understood the true power of the code; he lived it from the day he arrived among us to the day he passed below. Along the way, he saved many of us multiple times over, stood against the worst our world had to offer, and gave us the greatest city we have ever known. Never have so many owed so much to one person."_

I looked up again at the giant bronze statue, looming over the center of the city as though the old Toa still stood guard over the Matoran and Agori at work here. I'd never seen a more spectacular memorial, and after reading over everything that Onua had done, I was pretty sure that there wasn't anyone else deserving of one. No wonder Jahlpu and the Onu-Matoran practically worshipped him, and that even Kopaka had spoken of him in a positive light; Onua was the best example of a Toa who'd managed to find a way to use his abilities to serve the Matoran within the confines of the Toa Code. He'd found a purpose, something which many Toa, myself included, were still looking for.


	37. Chapter 37

At last, having seen enough and feeling quite tired, I decided to head back to the hotel, expecting that my companions would sooner or later show up there. It was getting well past six by the time I'd made my way back up the city rings, through the main entrance tunnel, and up to the surface. It was there that I noticed something that had, somehow, escaped my eye the first time around; located to the right of the tunnel entrance, carved in the side of the mountain, was a large workshop. A sign overhead advertised it as belonging to Nuparu, a name that instantly caught my interest; so this was where the Toa Mahri of Earth had, quite literally, set up shop. Peering in through the large front entrance, whose double doors were still open, I noticed there were pieces of mining equipment in various states of disrepair scattered around the place, from small, single person drills to a giant motorized contraption whose purpose was utterly unclear to me. The whole place was lit rather dimly by yellow lightstones attached to the walls, and numerous workbenches were positioned around the room, indicating that there were normally more people at work here; their shift had likely ended. A loud, metallic clanging sound emanating from deeper within the shop indicated at least one person was still at work, though. Maybe it was the Toa himself?

I hesitated for a moment; I really didn't have much of a reason to be here, but at the same time it'd be nice to meet with Nuparu and get his… take on events, I guess, particularly his stance on Jaller and Hahli's frequent arguments over Gali staying with them. Besides, even if an answer wouldn't be forthcoming there, at least I could say "hi" on behalf of the other Toa Mahri. So I made my way across the shop, and soon arrived at another set of doors at the end that led into a part of the shop that was sectioned off by a line of shelves, cabinets, and one of a the stone pillars that had been left standing when this place was carved out, presumably to hold the roof up. Inside, with his back towards the entrance and repeatedly bringing a large hammer down on a red-hot piece of metal, was the Toa Mahri of Earth. He turned, bringing up the piece of metal with a pair of tongs, and dunked it into an oil tank. This set fire to some of the oil, which in turn lit up the room a lot more while the Toa of Earth looked away to protect his sensitive eyes… which fell right on me.

"Oh, hello," I greeted. The surprised look on Nuparu's face was quickly replaced by a welcoming smile.

"A fellow Toa," he observed. "At this hour, no less. Hello to you too." He turned back to the oil tank. "Just a moment," he said. With that, he used the tongs to pull the metal object out of the oil tank. Now I saw that it was a blade, and to my great surprise it was in a shape that I recognized almost immediately: a thin cutting edge, straight right up until it curved around the tip, supported by a set of struts to a thicker 'backbone' that measured about half the length of the blade, tang not included. It looked exactly like one of Kopaka's weapons.

"A sword…" I remarked, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Special order," Nuparu explained while he waited for the oil to burn off of the blade.

"For whom?" I wondered.

"Err… a friend," the Toa of Earth replied. "A collector."

"Interesting hobby."

"So it is…" Nuparu nodded, though not confidently. "Anyways," he changed the subject as he took off his gloves and extended a hand towards me, "I'm Nuparu, though I'm sure you saw the sign out front."

"Lis," I shook it, but my attention was still on the blade. Who but Kopaka would request a sword like that? But Kopaka was gone, and yet here it was… then an idea popped into my head.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Nuparu asked.

"Perhaps…" I stalled as I got my thoughts together. "I have a question. I'm looking for someone, a fellow Toa, and I figured you might have some idea of his whereabouts."

"Well, I don't really keep contact with a lot of Toa besides the other Mahri," Nuparu scratched his head, "but sure, why not? Who are you looking for?"

"The guy who that belongs to," I gestured to the sword. "Toa Nuva Kopaka."

"Y-you're trying to track down Kopaka?" the Toa of Earth feigned surprise to hide a moment of panic, though rather unconvincingly.

"Yeah, I heard he was in town," I pressed on.

"That would be some coincidence…" he admitted.

"Wouldn't it?" I felt a certain smugness, like I'd cracked him in interrogation or something. Of course, I had a notable advantage in that department.

"Well, whether he's back or not," he continued, "I'm afraid that I hadn't heard of it until now."

"You're sure?" I wondered.

"Quite sure," he nodded. I was about to continue the line of questioning when his eyes suddenly widened as he noticed something behind me.

"That is enough," an all too familiar voice suddenly said behind me. "She will not let up. Besides, she already knows." I turned around to find Kopaka standing not ten feet behind me, and in spite of the fact that the possibility of him still being around had dawned on me the moment I saw Nuparu lift one of his swords out of that oil tank, I was still rather surprised at his sudden arrival.

"Kopaka!" I exclaimed louder than he could've been comfortable with, "you didn't leave!?" He just stood there, not even bothering to point out the obvious. "What are you still doing here?" I demanded.

"Getting my sword fixed," Kopaka said dryly.

"Oh, right... you need to make sure you're well equipped for your suicidal ego-trip," I chided. Kopaka gave me a death glare, but offered no verbal response. Nuparu, meanwhile, stood there with the most bewildered expression I'd ever seen.

"You… you two know each other?" he asked.

"I followed him around for a while," I explained. "Got to see his trip back to New Atero, even helped to fix him up."

"You went to New Atero?" Nuparu looked to Kopaka, who gave a slight nod. Judging by the Toa of Earth's expression, it did little to dispel his confusion. "How does nobody know about this?" he questioned.

"Oh, he had a plan," I replied before Kopaka got a word in. "Fooled everyone, even used me at one point. The only people who know about his trip are the other Toa. Oh, and Macku."

"And they all kept quiet?" Nuparu looked to Kopaka.

"They understood," the Toa of Ice answered, "unlike this one." He glared at me.

"Hey, I never told anyone," I countered. "I wasn't even one of the ones who threatened to."

"Not that," Kopaka corrected me. "They understood my duty."

"Your duty doesn't exist," I shot back, and after our last conversation I was certain of it. "It is only the delusion that you use to justify your need to get away from everyone."

"My duty lies beyond your understanding…" he began to argue, but he was interrupted by Nuparu.

"Okay, okay!" the Toa of Earth stepped in. "Clearly there is some history between you two, and I'd love to hear all about it, but please quit the arguing. Seriously, if I wanted to hear more of that, I'd go visit my brothers and sister. Fair?" He looked back and forth between me and Kopaka. The Toa of Ice nodded slowly, then stepped back.

"Sure," I shrugged.

"Good," Nuparu concluded, after which he got back to working the blade. Kopaka vanished deeper into the shop, though I was certain that he hadn't gone far. I watched as Nuparu made sure the blade was absolutely straight. Apparently satisfied, he took it across the room and stuck it into a deep hole in the wall from which an ominous orange-red glow emanated. "Tempering oven," the he explained. "If he were to use that sword right now, it would break in two the moment he hit anything with it."

"That would be a shame," I said sarcastically.

"What's the deal between you two anyways?" Nuparu asked as he took a seat on a stool next to the work bench that occupied the center of the room.

"Oh, uhm… he's frustrating to be around, that's all." Yeah, I know 'frustrating' didn't really cover it, but it was the best description that came to mind at the time.

"That's nothing new," Nuparu shrugged. "But, you traveled with him for how long?"

"I followed him for… five days," I recalled. "Thought he was gone this morning, but apparently he got off the train, too."

"Five days?" the Toa of Earth looked impressed. "He tolerated you for that long?"

"Mostly," I shrugged. "I mean, he told me quite a bit about what it means to be a Toa, about duty and such… he tends to raise more questions than he answers. Still, we met a lot of other Toa along the way, so that was interesting enough."

"Did you meet Jaller? And Hahli?" Nuparu asked.

"We did, actually," I nodded. "Hewkii too, and Gali… Come to think of it, I probably should've stayed with them instead; didn't really have much reason to follow Kopaka after that."

"Hm… You're one of the new ones, right?" Nuparu changed the subject. "From the south?"

"Yup, the great heroes who stood up to the Skakdi." I gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Not much of a fight in the end, really."

"So I heard." Nuparu looked down at the table for a moment, then back at me. "Still, for all you know you might have prevented something pretty serious."

"Yeah, we might have… I guess." I found that a little hard to believe, but sure, why not? "Just… what do we do now, you know? I mean, I can't really go back to being assistant weaver." I smiled, again, half-heartedly, my humor undercut by anxiety over what exactly the future held for me.

"Yeah, we've all been there," the Toa of Earth sympathized. "We all had to find our place in this world."

"True," I agreed. "Actually, one of my brothers is looking into getting a job here."

"He is?"

"Yup. Jahlpu, Toa of Earth," I explained. "I'm sure he'll stop by here before long."

"I don't doubt it," Nuparu smiled. "I'll be sure to show him a thing or two… but what about you? Have you thought of anything yet?"

"Not really…" I admitted. "You know, Kopaka told me a lot about the history of the Toa Nuva… I guess I figured I'd find some clue in that." I leant back against a set of cabinets that made up part of the wall dividing this section of the workshop from the rest. "He turned out a shitty role model, though."

"That's why you fell out," Nuparu hypothesized.

"Exactly," I agreed. "I mean, it's how he rationalizes everything. You know, I didn't realize it until the end, but… it's like he talks a big game about duty and the Toa Code, but it just doesn't mesh with what he does. Not to anyone except him."

"How so?"

"Well, he nearly started a fight when he met Tahu," I began, "he insulted both Gali and Hahli after they worked their asses off to help him recover from his injuries 'cause he was in a pretty sorry state when he came down from that mountain, and he never apologized for it. He treats everyone as though they're flawed and inferior compared to him while he's deluded himself into thinking that everything he does is for the benefit of the Matoran."

"It isn't?"

"No, it isn't!" I continued. "Especially not what he's doing now; he says he's going into those mountains to do astronomy, to chart stars and planets and whatnot, so one day the Matoran might be able to go there."

"Sounds noble."

"Yeah, except I'm pretty sure he doesn't do astronomy up there," I argued. "If he was really interested in doing that, he'd be in the knowledge towers of New Atero or Ko-Koro-Nuva right now. No, I saw a lot more of his personality than he'd like to admit, and from what I saw I know he's going into those mountains because he can, and he believes, or wants to believe, that only he can. The duty thing just… rationalizes his megalomania. Worse, it's gonna get him killed. I mean, good swords or not, you know he won't last long in those mountains now, and his death will help no one."

"So, he's a pain to be around and he wants to be alone," Nuparu concluded. "Sounds pretty much like the Kopaka we all knew."

"Maybe so, but you didn't see how he berated Gali," I countered, "or the state he left her in. Or what he called Hahli, or Tahu, or me. He was vicious, and there was not even a hint of regret afterwards."

"True, I haven't," Nuparu shook his head, "and I'm sure it wasn't pretty, but that's Kopaka. He's unapologetically, brutally honest, regardless of how he justifies it. That's just who he is."

"Then where does he get the right to talk high and mighty about duty when he blatantly disregards his responsibilities to himself, and to those who were once his allies?" I asked. "That's what I don't get. Yes, duty is everything to a Toa, but how can he still think he's got anything to say on it?" I was now standing across the work bench, hands on hips, looking across to the Toa of Earth and wondering what his explanation for that could be. Nuparu sighed and paused for a bit before replying.

"How many of the Toa Nuva have you met?" he asked, to my surprise.

"Ehm, four…" I replied. "The four that remain."

"And could you call any of them flawless?" Nuparu continued.

"No," I answered immediately. "If anything… they're all in a pretty sorry state."

"That's right," Nuparu crossed his arms and leant forward onto the table. "Like us, they all have their flaws; Kopaka's is arrogance. And you know, unlike us they didn't have a life to return to when this world was put back together; they never knew anything but war. War heroes don't do well in peacetime." He sighed again, and I could clearly tell that this resonated a lot more with him than he was willing to let on. "Look, it's sad," he continued, "but that's the way they've ended up, but we can't change or help them now. You can berate Kopaka all you want, but you're not going to change him. Just… take him as an example of what not to do, what not to become."

"Oh, I plan to," I agreed. "Still, that doesn't really change my predicament. Then again, I might just go back to New Atero and stay with Macku and the other Toa for a while…"

"I'm sure they'd love the company."

"Yeah, they invited me already," I remembered. "Hell, maybe I should inform my teammates of it. Two of them pretty much worship Hahli and Hewkii anyways. Then again, I probably shouldn't let them loose on those two… and Jahlpu's probably staying here. He's more the Onua type."

"Really? What does that mean?" Nuparu wondered.

"More… duty-focused, I guess," I mused. "I actually spent a lot of time down by that statue today, read about what Onua did. Between everything he did before the Reformation, and founding the mine and city afterwards, he'd be a much better person to follow, you know? I mean, if duty is the sole guiding virtue now, no one seems to have nailed it on the head more than him."

"Yeah, I suppose he did…" Nuparu nodded, though not as… enthusiastically as I'd expected him to.

"Something wrong?" I wondered. "I mean, it's late, and if I'm taking too much of your time…"

"No, that's not… that's not it," he assured me. "It's just… duty isn't everything."

"It isn't?" I questioned. "I mean, that's like the one thing Kopaka told me that makes sense."

"What exactly did he tell you?"

"Well, since Destiny was fulfilled years ago, duty is the one virtue left," I recited. "Unity quickly falls away without destiny. He even had examples; people differ on how they should pursue their duty, which destroys unity, while only a common Destiny brings people together. That's why, according to him, at least, the Toa fell apart after the Reformation. What do you think?" A moment or two passed before Nuparu offered a response.

"It's right in the most pragmatic sense…" he began, "and I suppose that's what matters to him. Still, duty isn't everything, not in the way he would define it. We have a duty to the Matoran, yes, but don't let that consume you… trust me, that doesn't end well."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. It seemed Nuparu was showing his hand more than I imagined he intended to… or was he? Again, he didn't reply immediately. In fact, it took a good thirty seconds of pondering on his part before he settled on an answer; long enough for me to seriously wonder whether he really was okay.

"You know… I think there's something I should show you," he decided. "Just… wait here for a minute." He got up and proceeded out the entrance into the larger workshop, after which he turned left, the same direction Kopaka had taken. However, as I waited, I didn't hear any conversation start up between the two; apparently, Nuparu was going to retrieve something else. But what was it? Something related to him or another Toa, a reminder of what happened when duty became all-consuming, what he had warned against? If so, what could that be? At this point, I could only say one thing for certain: based on how difficult it had been for him to decide, it had to be something personal.


	38. Chapter 38

It took a good ten minutes for Nuparu to return, and when he did, he was carrying two things: an old, rolled-up letter, and two opaque, red crystals that fit in the palm of his hand. He handed me the letter first.

"Read that," he instructed, "and tell me what you think."

"Okay…" I unrolled the letter, unsure of what exactly made this piece of paper so significant. That changed the moment I noticed the signature on the bottom: Lewa. Nuparu stepped back as I began to read the letter.

 _Onua, dearest brother,_

 _By the time you get this, I'll be dead. But before I go, I owe you an explanation, and a warning._

 _Please, understand that I don't mean to hurt anyone by doing this, least of all you. However, I don't want to fade, to become the bitter has-been that our brother Pohatu has become. You pointed out that I should retire, call it quits before my body says "enough," but I can't do that either; part of me knows it's only a long road downhill from here. I don't want to see the bottom; I have spent my life at the summit, and I can't be happy anywhere else. Therefore, I can't quit: one way or another, I would drive myself to my own destruction. This way, at least, I'll do it on my own terms, and leave the Le-Matoran with one more good story to tell._

 _Mt. Valmai's eruption is only hours away, and in it I will have the thrill of my life, and the last. I'm sure the Matoran will see it as an inevitable accident, a great stunt of dare-and-do gone wrong. It'll be tragic, but they'll remember me as I want to be remembered, as the hero they deserve. It is the one thing I have left to offer them: a legend. That's all we will eventually be to the Matoran, right? Legends. Symbols of our peoples' character and achievements. It's a role I've played, gladly, for millennia, and I know you feel the same. But I want to caution you against making the mistake I made: don't let it consume you._

 _Our chosen professions may be different, but we have both worked our hardest to provide for the Matoran, to serve them as our code commands. However, you are patient, while I can't sit still for five minutes. You have wisdom and experience to offer the Onu-Matoran, while I could offer the Le-Matoran nothing but spectacle. Old age will inevitably leave me bitter and ostracized, while you would be as good a leader of the Matoran as any Turaga. Yet, when last we met, you were still toiling away in the mines, even as the work is taking its toll on your body. I'm telling you now to do what you told me, what I could never do: retire, for the good of your people. You could offer them so much more than just the tale of a Toa who worked himself to death._

 _Yes, I know it sounds hypocritical, just as it did weeks ago… but fate played us cruel cards, and our brothers and sisters have already fallen victim to their circumstances, doomed to live out their lives as mockeries of Toa, sad as it is to see. I'm no better than them, but you, you saved all of us, several times. If anyone can show the world what it meant to be the Toa Nuva, it is you. I am taking the one good option left to me, but you still have a choice. I pray you choose right._

 _Farewell, and thank you for all you did for me, and for all of us,_

 _Your brother, Lewa._

It was a difficult letter to read; between the erratic handwriting and spots of tears on it, it was clear that the author had found it equally difficult to write. Heart-wrenching, even. It confirmed what I had already suspected about Lewa; his death was not the near-miss, the tragic accident that everyone believed it to be. Lewa had flown into that eruption with full intent to die in it. The tragic part was that he was right; he was remembered as a hero for it, whereas if he had stayed around he could well have ended up like Pohatu.

"That's… a lot to take in," I remarked, looking up to find Nuparu leaning against the wall by the tempering oven.

"That it is," the Toa of Earth agreed. "He wrote that five weeks after the last time he and Onua met. They argued about that exact thing, fell out, and hadn't spoken since. Normally, they talked at least twice per week."

"They were close?"

"Very. The only Toa Nuva that still were," Nuparu took his seat by the work bench.

"So, what do those have to do with it?" I asked, pointing at the red crystals, now lying on the table.

"Lewa's warning," Nuparu replied, "about Onua destroying himself just as he had done… Onua heeded it for a while, but this," he picked up a crystal, "this is what destroyed him."

"What is it?" I wondered.

"I'm not sure," the Toa of Earth said as he held it up, inspecting it against the light, "and believe me, I tried for a long time to figure it out. It's not a normal gem, that's for sure."

"What does it do?"

"Observe," Nuparu said as he placed the crystal in the palm of his hand, then squeezed tight. He held the grip for about ten seconds, rocking his fingers, and when he opened his palm the crystal had been reduced to a bunch of smaller pieces and a fair amount of fine, red dust. "It's fragile," he explained, "and useless, except… it has an effect on the mind. A very powerful effect."

"A drug," I noted.

"Exactly," he sighed. "The powder… you sniff it, inhale it, and in moments it makes you feel invincible. No pain, no anxiety, nothing."

"Onua figured that out?" I asked.

"By accident, I believe," Nuparu continued. "These things are found deep down in the mine, and to this day most people believe them to be useless. Plus, they're rare, and I've made sure to collect them, to keep them out of unwitting hands. They're fiendishly addictive, and therefore very dangerous."

"Really?" I picked up the other crystal and held it up against the light. It seemed hard to believe that such a small, comparatively worthless gem would be so dangerous. "So, what did Onua do, then?"

"After he got that letter, and after Lewa's funeral, he decided to retire," Nuparu explained, "but he just couldn't keep away from the mine. So, instead of calling it quits, he said he'd 'ramp down' his work, working shorter hours and all that, until eventually he would be ready to leave completely. At the time, it seemed perfectly reasonable, given how much important that work was to him."

"His way of serving the Matoran," I interpreted.

"That's right," Nuparu agreed. "I thought it was a good decision. I mean, he was already showing signs of wear; it was clear that his body was starting to go, so I figured he'd wind down and eventually take up a Turaga role. Unfortunately, that's not how it happened. Instead, he found this." He held up his palm with the powder in it. "He was hurting by that point; his body was telling him it was time to stop, and that was part of what motivated him to actually slow down; he really didn't want to, didn't want to abandon his duty as he saw it."

"A workaholic…"

"A workaholic who saw his work as his divine duty…" Nuparu sighed, paused, swallowed, then continued: "Somewhere along the line, he discovered these crystals… they made him feel young again, feel strong again, or at least that's how he described it to me later. At the time, none of us knew, but somehow, a month of two after the funeral, there was this newfound energy about him, and he went back to working full-time and then some. He was going it at it harder than ever before, and the Matoran were cheering him on because, you know, he was their hero, and his retirement would've meant the end of an era to them. They thought that, against all odds, he'd gotten better. At first, I was worried, but he seemed so much happier that I didn't ask questions, and neither did anyone else. Like I said, we didn't know at the time what was really fueling his return."

"He hid it?" I asked.

"Very well," Nuparu confirmed. "I mean, he was the one who found most of these crystals down there anyways, so it wouldn't have been much trouble for him to pick them up and keep them to himself."

"He couldn't hide it forever, though," I noted. "You found out in the end."

"I did," he recalled. "I'd go to visit him, only to find he was working an extra shift again, and when he was home he was looking worse every time. It didn't add up. One time he came home with his arm twisted and mangled; he'd gotten it stuck in a partial tunnel collapse, yet he acted as though it was nothing. He ate little, and started to lose weight and muscle tone; he was pushing his body beyond the limit, forcing it to destroy itself to fuel his work. I convinced him to take a week off, to get the arm fixed and healed, so he did and went back to work after three days. By that point, I was convinced something was up, so I followed him down there. That's when I saw for the first time that he was using these crystals, or rather, he found some while he was working on yet another tunnel, deeper down than the last. Turns out he went back to work so early because his supply had run out. That was about a month after he first started using them."

"He went downhill that quickly?" I was rather surprised.

"At that point, his 'supply' consisted of maybe two crystals per day," Nuparu explained. "I confronted him about it, and thankfully he was willing to listen to reason, but he wasn't willing to stop working altogether. As he saw it, with these crystals he could keep going for longer, keep serving his duty to the Matoran. So, I let off, hoping that he would sooner or later realize how insane of a plan that was."

"I take it he didn't come to that realization…"

"I should've taken a firmer stance, but I didn't realize just how much that sense of duty that had guided him as a hero before was blinding him…" Nuparu's voice was beginning to waver. "And these… these things," he looked at the red dust in his hand, "he believed that they were somehow giving him greater strength. They weren't; they simply made him blind to his own limits. At first I thought he was just pushing himself to stay relevant, but then I had to believe that he was absolutely desperate, given how fast he went. I mean, it was becoming obvious to everyone; he looked gaunt, didn't care about injuries, hardly slept or ate or drank anything… I tried again and again to tell him that he should slow down. When I visited him in the mine again a couple of weeks after I found out, he collapsed while working. I used that incident, and his… well, condition, to argue that he had to stop. Not slow down, not a break… he had to stop. That was it."

"Did he?" By this point, I found myself hoping that he did, even though… well, history had already played out, hadn't it?

"He tried," Nuparu leant to the side and dropped the powder and fragments of the crystal in a trash can. "And for a while… he almost managed it. But it was hell. He'd already damaged his body beyond repair, and as soon as the crystal wore off, it was like his nerves were screaming at him. Headaches, cold sweats, back pain… he could barely drag himself out of bed. And it just wouldn't end." Nuparu shuddered, and his voice had taken on a distinctly morose tone. "It lasted all of two weeks. Two weeks during which he didn't dare step outside, 'cause he didn't want the Matoran to see what was happening to him. Through it all, that was what he said hurt most; the fact that he was sitting there, not working…"

"He couldn't stay away…" I looked down at Lewa's letter again… the Toa of Air had felt the exact same way.

"And that's what ended it," Nuparu said, with a sudden anger in his voice. "He gave up, or gave in, whatever you want to call it. Got a hold of another crystal somehow, went back into the mine, and didn't come out for the next two weeks. When I asked him about it, he said he was making up for lost time. So I took matters into my own hands. While he was gone, I turned his house upside down to figure out where he was keeping these things… I didn't find any. Instead, I found that." He pointed at the letter.

"Lewa's warning…"

"I showed it to him, reminded him of it…" Nuparu paused for a moment to collect himself. "And then he told me that Lewa was wrong, that he'd be fine. Lewa'd just lacked the resolve to keep going, had flinched when faced with the future, like Gali. Coming from him, that was the worst insult for a Toa; he blamed Gali for driving the team apart, and hadn't spoken to or of her since except to express his anger. Then he told me to go back to 'fixing little drills' and to leave him alone. So I did; I was furious, furious at his delusion, furious that he'd dismissed his dead friend's warning and insulted him to boot… I was done for a while after that."

"I know that feeling." Pretty much how I felt about Kopaka at this point.

"It felt right at the time, but I shouldn't have left," Nuparu continued. "I should've dragged him out of that tunnel and over to Gali's place, just to see if she could do anything about the state his body was in. Maybe that would've made quitting tolerable for him, not to have to deal with as much pain… As it was, when I left, he was doomed. He stayed in the mine for longer and longer, looking for more crystals to fuel his spiraling habit… at the end, he was up to one per hour, and that was over a month after the last time I saw him. I went down there one last time… and it was awful…" he was choking up.

"I'm… I'm sorry," I stopped him. "You can stop, really, I… I mean, I know this is difficult, and…"

"No," he said defiantly. "No, someone needs to know… just give me a moment."

"Don't talk, then," I suggested. "Just… think. I'll see for myself." For a moment, he looked a bit confused, but then he realized what I was doing. I focused in on him, as he was reliving that memory… I knew it wasn't going to be pretty, but if he was intent on me knowing, I was going to see it for myself.

I'm walking down a tunnel, one that's barely lit. From up ahead, I hear a scraping sound, an occasional falling rock… the sound of someone digging, punctuated by two small, high-revving engines; the signature sound of Onua's tools. To the left and right of me, water comes dripping down from cracks all over the walls and ceiling of this tunnel; it hasn't been reinforced or anything… this can't possibly be safe. Looking back, I see the vehicle I've left behind; a small quad-buggy, pointing the other way with its engine still running; if worst comes to worst, I have to get out of the tunnel quickly, but it has now narrowed to where the buggy can go no further, hence I am continuing on foot.

Only fifty or so feet beyond where I left the buggy, the tunnel curves to the right… and now that it's straightening out again, I get my first glimpse of the Toa Nuva of Earth. It's from about a hundred feet away and from behind, but even from here it's obvious that he's in a terrible state… I'm not looking at a Toa; I'm looking at the living, skeletal remains of one. As I approach, the details become clearer; what little muscle is draped over his base frame is torn, frayed, and discolored… His armor, dented, meant to accommodate bulging muscles, is hanging by the bolts that attach it to his frame, and as he pushes the fast-revving drilling tools against the wall, grinding away into the rock, his whole body shakes as though he's struggling to hold the heavy things in place. I wait for a few seconds until, exhausted, he allows the tools to wind down and lowers them to the ground.

"Onua?..." I manage to get out. He doesn't seem to hear. "Onua!" I call out more forcefully and approach. For a moment, it seems my call has once again fallen on deaf ears, but then he slowly begins to turn… as I come within ten feet, his eyes fall on me. They're red around the edges and unnaturally wide open; their owner hasn't slept for days. He once stood quite tall, but his bony, bent frame is that of a tortured man.

"Nuparu." his voice is incredibly hoarse, to the point where I can barely understand what he's saying. This is the state those crystals have left him in.

"Look at you…" my voice is wavering; I'm still getting over what I'm looking at. "Look at yourself." No reply. "The once mighty Toa Onua… look where your duty has brought you. It is killing you." For a few seconds, we just look each other dead in the eyes. I want some kind of reply, some acknowledgement beyond my name, some sign that those crystals haven't taken his brain as well.

"Duty brought me this far," he says at last. "There is no turning back now."

"No turning back?"

"I can't go back up there… not like this." Even through torn vocal cords, I recognize a tone of sadness… of resignation.

"So you know," I reply. "You know where you're at. That means you can turn back."

"I can't," he says. "It's done, and you need to go. Now."

"I'm not leaving," I reply resolutely.

"No, Nuparu, you are leaving," he says again, now more threateningly. "There's nothing for you here. Go!"

"Damn it!" I exclaim. "You've given up… just like Lewa, right!?" I expect him to hurl back some explicative at the mentioning of the Toa Nuva of Air's name… but I don't get that. Instead, he gets that look again… as though the gravity of his condition just hit him. "Just like Lewa…" I repeat.

"He was right…" Onua suddenly says. "Damned fool was right all along. There's no place left for me; not now."

"There is, if you can let go of your pride, of your duty, for just a second," I argue. "We can save you."

"No…" Onua begins, but then a sudden pain seems to grip him. "Argh!" he lurches, drops one of his tools, and grabs onto the sides of his abdomen.

"You're hurt," I continue. "Come with me, we can get help. We can get you through this."

"No!" he exclaims, still grimacing with pain, as he reaches into a small bag attached to his waist. "Come on…" he mutters as he rummages around it, eventually pulling out one small, red crystal fragment.

"Onua, don't…" I begin, but before I can even get to him he's crushed it in his hand. He brings then had up to his face, takes a deep breath… For a moment, everything seems to stand still, then he lets out a sigh of relief.

"That's destroying you, and you know it," I say. He doesn't reply; instead, he reaches into the pocket again, then turns it inside out. It is empty. He sighs, and for a moment seems close to collapse.

"That… was my last," he says as he reaches to pick up his tools again. I step forward again, reach out, and grip him by the shoulders. He looks up at me, his eyes redder than ever.

"You've got to stop this madness!" I plead.

"It's too late," he says, with a hint of bliss to his voice. "Go, Nuparu… Go. It's over."

"No, it isn't!" I continue. "Those Matoran up there still need you! I need you, damn it!"

"No… you… DON'T!" he suddenly exclaims, swinging one of his tools in my direction, forcing me to leap backwards and get out of the way. I look, stunned, as he stands there, somehow still holding those things at the read. "This world doesn't need me, it doesn't need you, it doesn't need any of us!" he continues as his face takes on an anguished expression. "I'm done, Nuparu… I'm done. Leave before I take you down with me!" Suddenly, it dawns on me what he is about to do.

"No, you can't!" I call out, but before I can intervene, he suddenly turns around, revving up both of his tools as he does so, and plunges them forward into the stone wall. Over the screaming engines, I hear the unmistakable sound of cracking stone coming from above me. Looking up, I see the cracks in the ceiling are spreading! I jump back, just in time as a chunk of rock, dislodged from the ceiling, falls down on the spot where I was standing.

"Come on!" I shout to Onua. "We've got to get out of here!" He doesn't respond, holding the tools and his position with what for his current condition has to be supernatural strength. More chunks of rock are beginning to fall… instinctively, I back up further. "Come on, damn it!" I plead again. "Don't let it end like this!" More falling rocks… we've only got seconds at best. Suddenly, Onua stops the engines. His tools come sliding out of the wall as cracks continue to spread from the holes they leave behind, and he begins to turn, leaning now with his back against the wall. He slides down, collapsing, tools dropping by his side. "Come to me! NOW!" I shout, but he doesn't listen.

"Go…" he says, barely loud enough for me to hear over the stone cracking and rumbling. "Run, or the mountain will swallow you too…" He leans back, and closes his eyes. I'm torn; I can't stay here, I don't have the time to even climb over the mounting rubble and get him out of here… I have to run.

"DAMN IT!" I exclaim as I turn around. I start to sprint down the tunnel; all around me, pebbles and dust are already dislodging themselves from the ceiling. When I reach the bend, I look back one last time; he's still there, sitting, leaning against the wall, looking upwards and awaiting the inevitable. It's only a glimpse, a split second… then a large section of the ceiling comes down. Rocks, boulders, slabs of stone plunge into the tunnel between us, and the collapse is spreading. I have to turn and run again, racing against the closing earth. I round the bend, make it back to the buggy, jump on and gun the engine. A wave of dust heralded by a tremendously loud rumbling and crashing follows closely behind as I race through the tunnel to the central mine shaft; it seems like forever, but when I reach it, I turn hard right and up the spiraling pathway that leads, eventually, to the city up above. I've made it to the entrance of the next tunnel up… I'm safe.

I stop the buggy and look down and across the central shaft. A plume of dust has shot out of the entrance to what was a tunnel only minutes ago… the collapse is total; even before the dust settles, I can see boulders in the entrance. This is it… my hero, my mentor, my friend… is dead.


	39. Chapter 39

That was the end of the memory… I backed out, looked down, and found that my hands were shaking. That last image of Onua, what remained of him, slumped against the end of the tunnel and waiting for it to end... it was haunting. Sitting across the table, Nuparu sat with a pensive look on his face, elbows on the table and resting his chin on folded hands.

"It took them a month to find his body…" he began. "Then, of course, there was a big service, the building of the memorial… Everyone believed he'd died just working as he always had. No one except me knew that he ended it himself."

"You think it was on purpose?" I asked, a bit shocked.

"He'd never have dug into fractured bedrock like that without reinforcing the tunnel along the way," Nuparu explained. "One way or the other, he knew that tunnel was coming down. It wasn't an impulsive thing; he'd been at that tunnel for hours. I just showed up at the right time to see the end."

"Right… and for a moment there, he sounded almost… happy," I remembered.

"He knew the collapse was imminent," Nuparu said dourly. "He could sense it… and by that point, death was a comfort to him. Three months of this stuff," he pointed at the crystal still lying on the table, "three months was all it took to bring him to that point." He sighed. "I asked myself a lot of questions afterwards, you know? About what I could've done differently… in the end, I came to the conclusion that by that point, I could do nothing for him. That's how I've lived with it ever since."

"And no one else figured it out?" I wondered.

"I never told anyone. Never. It would've destroyed his reputation, and you can see how much he means to the people of this city." I immediately thought of Jahlpu when he said that; my brother practically lived his life by the words of Onua. "His legacy remains untarnished, and it's better that way," Nuparu concluded.

"What about… as a warning?" I wondered. "I mean, if this stuff destroyed Onua, wouldn't that serve as a very strong warning against people… you know, using it?"

"It's rare, and I buy up all of the crystals they find and keep them locked away," Nuparu explained. "That way, no warning is necessary."

"The best of both worlds…" I mumbled.

"Exactly." We paused for a moment… then Nuparu got up, picked up a set of tongs, and walked over to the tempering furnace. He pulled out the blade, took it to another tank, one filled with water, and dropped it in. With a loud, hissing sound, steam erupted from the tank; Nuparu took a step back, waited for the boiling to stop, then pulled out the blade and laid it on the work bench.

"So, why did you tell me, then?" I wondered.

"As a warning," he replied.

"But, you just said…"

"Not the drugs," he cut me off. He looked down the blade to ensure it was still straight. "As a warning about blind devotion to duty. Onua only started using those crystals because he felt like he wouldn't be relevant if he couldn't work. He'd made that work his duty, and remained so laser-focused on it that he couldn't back off, couldn't reinvent himself again when his body started to give."

"He worked himself to death because it was the only way in which he saw himself adequately serving the Matoran." A scary thought, that's for sure.

"That's right." Apparently satisfied with the straightness of the blade, Nuparu laid it on the workbench and proceeded to reassemble the handle on the tang. "Now," he continued in a somewhat stern tone, "I'm sure that, if you've been traveling with Kopaka, you've heard an awful lot about duty and the Toa Code, and about how he sees himself as serving it."

"He's pretty certain that he's got it all figured out," I acknowledged. "Of course, he's living a fantasy, but hey, he can sleep at night."

"In spite of the contradictions?"

"In spite of anything and anyone," I continued, anger starting to boil over again. "He just rationalizes it all away, and is marching to his own demise in the process; he just refuses to see it."

"Well, don't be too quick to dismiss him," Nuparu said, to my surprise. "He's just trying to reconcile his duty and the Toa Code in way that he can stomach. It's a pity that this world has no place for him where he can do so that would satisfy him, but that's why he rationalizes away the contradictions."

"You're wrong," I argued. "There is a place for him, a place where he can pursue his duty without destroying himself. The knowledge towers! Gali even pointed it out to him, as did I. He only got angry about it. Angry that he didn't think of it, maybe?"

"No, he thought of it," Nuparu countered. "In fact, I bet he's thought about it a lot, and that he has a legitimate reason for not wanting to work there."

"His ego," I explained. "He wants to be alone so he can prove he is better than everyone else; to prove that he can survive what no one else can, and that he can do it without help. It's lunacy, and it's getting him killed with no benefit for the Matoran."

"So his ego isn't a legitimate reason?" Nuparu asked.

"No, it isn't," I argued. "Not when satisfying his ego means letting everyone else down."

"Okay, so suppose he were to start working in a knowledge tower," Nuparu posed as he began to wrap a leather grip around the handle of the blade. "Suppose he agreed to start doing his astronomy there; the Matoran would bring him food, water, whatever he needs, and he could spend all of his time charting the stars through the latest equipment. Would that be better?"

"Of course!" I answered. No question about it, right?

"Well, in light of the 'ego' you described," Nuparu continued, "do you think he'd be happy up there?"

"He'd be fulfilling his duty," I answered, "and he's always hammering on about how important that is."

"That's not what I asked," Nuparu said as he put the blade down and looked me straight in the eyes. "Would he be happy up there, in those circumstances?"

"Uhm…" I wasn't sure what he was looking for… or was I? "I guess, maybe not?"

"No, I don't think he would be," Nuparu agreed. "It wouldn't… it wouldn't fit his idea of a hero, what he strives to be."

"So, what does this… idyllic hero look like, then?" I wondered.

"Some kind of solitary warrior, I think." Nuparu picked up the blade again and resumed wrapping the grip around the handle. "I mean, he's always insisted that he works alone, right?"

"True…" I nodded. "Actually, Gali said that, too. She told me about how Kopaka always wants to do everything himself… even if it doesn't lead to, you know, the best results."

"There you go," Nuparu shrugged. "Did she tell you why he does that?"

"She believed it's because he wants to prove himself independent from everyone else," I recalled, "and I saw some things that proved that he wants to do that because he wants to believe he's better than everyone else… I mean, able to stand alone when everyone else needs a team behind them."

"Then that's why he wouldn't be happy working in a knowledge tower," Nuparu explained. "Living in a city like that, or even above it… he'd have to rely on others for at least some things, and he sees that as a weakness that he can't stand. He doesn't want to be a part of society, to be dependent on other members of it to do their part, which is why he's going as far away from it as he can."

"But… he's wrong," I argued. "That… interdependence isn't a weakness. Just look at what the Matoran have accomplished as a society! I mean, that statue out there wasn't built by one person, was it?"

"No…" Nuparu admitted, "but Kopaka's not a Matoran, is he?"

"No, he isn't…" No denying that.

"And neither are the other Toa Nuva," Nuparu explained. "You see, that's the difference between us and them. They were never Matoran; they never had a life where they weren't the exalted heroes that legends speak of, and that's why they've had so much trouble adjusting."

"But you guys did fine," I countered. "You're still serving the Matoran now, aren't you? And you don't need to be the hero for it."

"That's because I haven't always been a hero," Nuparu reiterated himself. He finished tying up the grip; the sword was done, so he looked back to me. "Look, Lis," he sighed. "Onua, Lewa, Kopaka… all the Toa Nuva have their own idea of what a hero is, what a hero does, and that's all they know, what they want to be. Only know life at the summit, right?" He pointed at the letter in front of me. "Thing is, the summit kills everyone sooner or later… and we couldn't get them to come down. Lewa and Onua couldn't face the descent; they'd already seen from Gali and Pohatu what the bottom looks like. It sucks, but no one was going to change that… and that's why you're not going to get Kopaka to stay. No one can; he'd rather die, die as the hero he believes himself to be."

"But… it undercuts his duty," I stammered.

"Look around you," Nuparu replied. "Look at New Atero, at this city here… do these people really need Toa? It's our duty to help them, but they don't need our help anymore. That's why I've gone back to doing what I did before I became a Toa, and all the other Toa Mahri did the same. We went back to being Matoran, just… taller ones. If the Matoran need Toa again, we can rise to the challenge, but until then we'll live out our lives in peace, 'cause unlike the Toa Nuva, we have lives to return to."

"I guess you're still serving society anyways, right?" I pointed out. "I mean, you're still fulfilling your duty, just… without the need for the spotlight."

"You could say that…" Nuparu sighed, took up that pensive pose again, and thought for a couple of seconds. Then he looked up: "Lis, you're still looking for something to do, for a purpose, right?"

"Yeah."

He looked me straight in the eyes again. "Take my advice: don't get hung up on framing it with or calling it "Duty" or "Destiny." Those virtues were for a time of war, when legends were forged and great evil hovered over us like a specter. That time is gone. The time of heroes is gone, which is why I'm not pretending to be one, and neither are the other Toa Mahri. I'm not serving some grand duty, I'm doing a job I enjoy, something that I'm good at. That's the standard you should be striving for, and if, one day, the need for heroes arises again, you can stand up and be there."

"But… what if that time never comes?" I questioned.

"Take pride in what you do," Nuparu answered. "I'm far more satisfied with the work I've done here, in my shop and for the mines, than anything I did or accomplished 'being a hero' and fighting monsters. Truth is, we barely pulled it off, and lost the best of us in the process. None of us ever felt we were heroes; we just did what we were called to do."

"Yet the Matoran still call you a hero," I pointed out, "and me, too."

"The Matoran need people to believe in…" Nuparu explained, "…people to look up to. We serve that role just fine by being upstanding citizens, and the Toa Code gives us the rules on that. Besides, even if you never got to do something you consider title-worthy, you were ready to, weren't you?"

"I mean, if it had come to a fight…" I shuddered at the prospect of facing an angry Skakdi tribe, "… I guess we would've done what we could."

"Well, then as far as I'm concerned you're as deserving of the title as I am." Nuparu cracked a slight smile before his expression turned gravely serious again. "Really, don't worry about it… just don't go out of your way to be some great hero when no one needs one. It didn't work for the Toa Nuva, and it won't work for you."

"But, what about Kopaka, then?" I asked. "He's still trying… and he'll die trying before long. I don't think anyone will even know when it happens."

"Like I said, you're not going to be able to change him. Besides, most of the Matoran think he's dead already anyways…" Nuparu sighed. "Look, I know his words and his actions don't match, but… learn from him what you can, and then just let him live out his fantasy. He'll be happy, the Matoran will keep their legend, and you won't spend years asking yourself how you could have saved him. No one can save him now, no more than anyone could save Onua."

"I guess you're right…" I admitted. "It just… sucks, you know?"

"It does," Nuparu agreed, "but when we can't save a person from their own flaws, we can at least save the legacy, the ideal they represented. Onua, Kopaka… all the Toa Nuva deserve all the worship they get for what they accomplished; they saved a universe, and made possible the creation of a new world. As fellow Toa, we should make sure that that legacy isn't tainted by the failings that came to light in that world."

"I guess that's it, then…" I resigned. "I should let him go." From what Nuparu said, it looked like the best option… but I just didn't like it, something that the Toa of Earth recognized.

"It might help if you parted with him on good terms," he suggested. "I'm not saying that you're wrong; you're absolutely right about his incongruent reasoning, but… you'll feel a lot better after he's gone if your last words weren't in anger."

"So, I should apologize?" I asked. The idea seemed abhorrent at first. "Apologize for pointing out the truth? He never gave anyone else that courtesy."

"Yeah, and I'm sure it eats at him too," Nuparu continued. "He probably buries it like everything else, but I guarantee that somewhere in there he feels pretty bad about the way he's treated people. That might even be why he's so fanatically devoted to proving himself to himself… if he isn't the morally righteous one, maybe at least he can be the strongest, right? Lis, his ego's going to kill him, and there's nothing you can do to change that… but don't let yours do the same to you. You can be the bigger person here, and it will only help you."

"I guess I never thought of it like that…" I realized that, once again, the older Toa was right. I didn't like it, but I did owe Kopaka an apology, more for my sake than his. Nuparu turned his attention to screwing the pommel back on the blade, and I looked up at the clock suspended in the shop; it was over halfway from eight to nine in the evening. Nuparu noticed it, too.

"It's getting late," he observed, suddenly looking quite tired. "Here, the sword is done;" he handed it to me. "Take it back to him; it'll give you a way to get the conversation going."

"Uhm, okay…" The blade was lighter than I thought. "Shouldn't he pay for it first?"

"He already did," Nuparu pointed out. "Besides, after all this, I'm about ready to call it a day."

"Of course," I nodded. "I'll probably head back to New Atero… Well, anyways," I reached forward to shake his hand, "thank you for telling me all this, and for showing me what happened with Onua. I know it was hard."

"You're welcome." He shook it back. "If you learned something from it, it was worth it."

"It did, and it was," I assured him as we turned and started heading for the door.

"If you need anything, stop by anytime," he invited.

"I will, and I'm sure you'll be seeing Jahlpu soon."

"I look forward to it." He smiled in spite of how tired he looked. Entering into the main shop space, we looked around; Kopaka was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, where'd he go?" I thought out loud.

"Outside, probably," Nuparu suggested. "You should probably go look for him; he won't be far, and if he does come in here, I'll tell him to wait outside the doors."

"Works for me," I agreed. So we parted ways: he moved to finish closing up the shop, while I turned right and headed for the doors.

"And if you do go back to New Atero, say hello to the other Toa Mahri for me!" he called after me.

"Will do!" I called back as I picked my way between the workbenches and assorted machinery set up in the dim light. Stepping outside, I looked up at a clear, starry sky. The mountain air was chilly, but the view was breathtaking. I closed the doors behind me and stepped back onto Onu-Koro-Nuva's main street. I didn't expect Kopaka to have gone into the underground portion, with its round-the-clock hustle and bustle, so I headed in the direction of the hotel and the train station. As it turned out, I was right; I'd made it not fifty feet down the road before I noticed a tall, cloaked figure standing in front of one of the buildings, right across the street from the hotel. Unlike underground Onu-Koro-Nuva, the Matoran on the surface kept a day-night schedule, which meant that the street was empty. As I walked to where Kopaka was standing, I noticed the building he was facing was some kind of souvenir shop, presumably positioned close to the train station to catch weary travelers who'd spent their day in the underground city and were about to board the train home. Kopaka's attention seemed to be focused on something on display inside, and he showed no sign of noticing me as I approached, not even when I stopped about ten feet away from him.

"Hey, your sword is done…" I said, presenting the weapon. He quickly turned to face me, almost jolting as though I'd surprised him, which I'd scarcely believed possible given how he'd always noticed me even when I used my mask. Recognizing me, he immediately turned to his resting state.

"So it is," he said solemnly, and gestured for me to approach. I did, and he took the sword. He held it out in front of him for a second or two, testing its weight and balance. Apparently satisfied, he stored it away. Looking past him, I noticed the object he had been so fixated on: a foot-and-a-half tall, bronze model of the statue of Onua in underground Onu-Koro-Nuva, complete with a small lightstone in its raised hand, making it either the world's most elaborately detailed and expensive ornament, or the world's most pretentious desk lamp. Having stowed the blade, Kopaka turned back to face the window, looking it over one more time.

"Hey, there's something… something I have to tell you," I began, trying with some difficulty to find the right words. "Well, I guess it's more of an apology…"

"How did it end?" He suddenly asked, cutting me off. He didn't even turn to face me; he just asked the question.

"Sorry… what?" I was momentarily taken aback. Now he turned back to face me again.

"How did it end?" he repeated himself. "What Nuparu showed you."

"Oh, that…" now I got it, but what did he want to know about it? "Well, you know how it ends. He died, remember?"

"Show me," he asked.

"Show you?" I was dumbfounded. "Like, all of it?"

"What Nuparu showed you," he elaborated. "What did the end look like?"

"So now you're interested?" I said incredulously. Really, now he was interested?

"Fine then," he said with a sudden edge to his voice. "Never mind." He started to turn again.

"No, actually…" I decided. If he wanted to see how Onua died, then I would show him. Hell, maybe it would scare some sense into him; from what he'd told me, Onua was the one other Toa Nuva he still respected up until this point. "You want to see how it ended? I'll show you how it ended, right here, right now." He turned back and looked me straight in the eyes. "You ready for this?" I asked, more to see if it would elicit any reaction from him than to get an actual answer; he'd asked, of course he was ready. Alas, no reaction was forthcoming, his expression remaining as stoic as ever. So, I placed my hands on his shoulders, closed my eyes and focused in on his mind instead, calling up the still-fresh memory I'd gotten from Nuparu, intending to hit him with all of it. The condition of the tunnel, the first sight of the Toa Nuva of Earth in his skeletal, famished state, Nuparu pleading with him to come back, Onua's resignation to his fate, and his final act of defiance… All of it.

It only took a minute or two, but while the connection was up and I was feeding the memory to Kopaka, I also got some signals back; inevitable echos of his reactions to what he saw, what he was experiencing. At that moment when Nuparu first rounded the corner and laid eyes on what remained of Onua, I got shock: deep, awful shock, something Kopaka would have done his best to hide, but he couldn't block this. Through the conversation, I got disbelief, shock again, more disbelief, hints of anger, and eventually silence… silence punctuated by a sad gloom. This was Kopaka accepting what had shocked him so, Onua's final scene… when we got to the part where Nuparu was racing against the collapsing tunnel to get out, which should've gotten his adrenaline pumping, I instead got that same sadness. Not even an extra heartbeat; after that last glimpse back, that image of Onua leaning back against the wall, awaiting the imminent collapse, Kopaka had tuned out. I opened my eyes; my hands had dropped to my sides and were shaking a little, but I quickly reasserted myself. Kopaka'd turned away again, his eyes once again fixed on that statue that crowned the display behind the window.

"That's it," I said. I got no response from Kopaka, but his expression, for once, spoke volumes. I could best describe it as an empty sadness, like I'd shattered something in him, his view of Onua perhaps, the one Toa Nuva he'd had good things left to say about. I didn't focus in on his mind again, but even with what passive signals I got, I could tell all manner of thoughts were racing through his head… somehow, that felt quite satisfying to me. "Hey, that was it," I said, reaching up and shaking his shoulder to try and get him out of this… whatever trance this was. I got no response again; he'd tuned me out completely. "So, look," I continued, "I know you can hear me, and I do have one thing left to say before I go, or before you go, I guess..." I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts again, then noticed that his expression had changed to a frown, a scowl, a defiant expression of some kind. Unsure of what to make of it, I tried to get his attention again: "Hey… look, I'm sorry about, you know… what I said back there…" Suddenly, he turned and started to walk away. "Hey, wait!" I followed. "Where are you going!?" Again, he ignored me completely, but he kept up a very quick pace. He marched into the train station, made his way up to the ticket booth, slammed a bunch of widgets down on the counter in one go, and pointed resolutely at the board listing various destinations. The late-night operator quickly offered him a ticket, which he took, after which he proceeded up the stairs leading onto bridge to the passenger platform, not even bothering to wait for change to be counted.

"Hey!" I called after him, but it was like I didn't exist as far as he was concerned, so I turned to the operator instead. "Hey, wherever he's going… I need a ticket too," I told her. The operator, a young Ce-Matoran, of all things, quickly grabbed another ticket and just handed it to me.

"This'll cover it," she said, gesturing at the pile of widgets on her desk and with a noticeable tremble in her voice; Kopaka's display had left an impression.

"Oh… okay." I wasn't going to question that; I took the ticket and started for the walkway.

"The train'll leave in less than a minute, ma'm!" she called after me.

"Thanks!" I called back as I sped up, sprinting up the stairs and across the walkway to the platform where the train was parked, ready and waiting. I boarded the closest car mere seconds before the doors closed and the train got rolling. Looking left and right, I didn't see a sign of Kopaka, but I wasn't going to let him get away, not again.


	40. Chapter 40

There weren't a lot of other passengers on the train, which wasn't surprising at this hour, and most of them were getting settled in for the night. I headed for what I figured would be the most likely place for Kopaka to go: as far back as possible. Like before, the cars got progressively emptier as I made my way to the back of the train, and I did find the last car to be completely empty, except for one the passenger I was looking for; Kopaka had taken up that same spot he'd claimed on every trip before, and was sitting in the same pose: elbows resting on his knees and his chin on folded hands, looking pensive more than anything else. This time, I approached him without hesitation.

"Like I said," I picked up where I left off, "you're not getting away so easily this time; not when I have a few things left to say." I waited for a moment, got no reply, and then sat down across from him. "I know you're listening," I continued, "and… well, I do want to finish what I started; tie up some loose ends, or rather… a particular one." Still nothing; he didn't as much as move a muscle, his mind probably preoccupied as his face retained a steely, determined expression and his gaze remained fixed on the floor between us. For a moment, I considered just waiting, since Ko-Koro-Nuva was about four hours away and he'd probably have to acknowledge me at some point in that time… but then again, did he? That wasn't a wait I was willing to risk, so I tried to get his attention: "Hey, anyone home?" I asked, waving an arm in front of where I could see his eyes were pointing. Still nothing; his mind was really preoccupied with something, and I suspected that it wasn't the pattern in the floor. Still, he couldn't tune me out completely. "Well, I guess I'll settle for a one-sided conversation," I mused as I tried to think of a way to word the apology. I still wasn't all that comfortable with it, but I didn't want to disregard Nuparu's advice either. Besides, four hours or not, I didn't think I'd feel any better about it later, so it was pretty much now or never.

"Look..." I began somewhat hesitantly, "I spent a lot of time talking with Nuparu about… well, about what happened with Onua, and the other Toa Nuva…, including you. We talked about… how you all ended up, and why, and let's be honest, things haven't really gone well for any of you in the long run…" I realized I was rapidly getting nowhere; now, of all the times, in my mixed state of mind words seemed to be failing me. Amazingly, however, they at last elicited a response: a long, deep sigh, perhaps one of exasperation, but I felt relieved; up until that point, I'd feared that he might lash out at me or something, let his anger boil over the way it'd happened when I pushed him as the train had entered station in Onu-Koro-Nuva. While I didn't imagine he was pleased by any means, at least he wasn't hostile either.

"Go on," he said coldly, without looking up.

"Okay…" I sat down in the chair facing his across the aisle. "Nuparu told me some things, about the way Onua thought, and the way he believes you think..."

"The way he believes I think?" Kopaka interrupted without looking up, placing a particular emphasis on the word "he."

"Well, both he and I…" I stammered, "… the way we think you think, I guess… I mean, from what we've seen and what you've told me, and in light of that… I think I owe you an apology." I figured that, of all things, those words would elicit a response, but Kopaka seemed to have reverted to the silent treatment. I continued: "I don't want things between us to end the way… the way they did before Onu-Koro-Nuva, and in Nuparu's shop, but I can't take back the things I said, 'cause they were… they were what I felt at the time. Still… I shouldn't have pushed it so hard. That was a stupid reaction on my part, a reaction to… well, to things I thought didn't add up. And I'm not saying that they do, but somehow they do to you, and..."

"You are making excuses," he cut me off. "You are trying to justify what you want to apologize for. That is not an apology." The words seemed scornful, but his tone of voice wasn't... in fact, it was far less harsh than I'd gotten from him in a long time.

"No, it isn't…" I realized I had to stop dancing around the subject. "Look," I leant forward, trying to meet his downward gaze, but failing to do so I found myself looking at my feet instead. "I let my opinion of you get in the way, and I let my feelings get in the way of looking objectively at what you're doing. You've been… harsh, to me and to others, and I never liked that, but you were never unfair to anyone, while I've definitely been unfair to you. I had no right to call you the things I did, to get angry and denounce you like that, and that's… that's what I want to apologize for: for poking and prodding when you repeatedly asked me to stop, and for getting angry at you when you responded. So… I'm sorry. I'm sorry about that." I paused for a second and thought back over the days gone by, but I couldn't really pinpoint anything else that I really felt was unjustified or worth apologizing for, given the circumstances. "That's… that's it, I guess." I looked up; he was still looking down, making no eye contact whatsoever, but this time I did get a verbal response.

"Fine," he said dourly. "Consider it past."

"Really?" I was surprised; Kopaka wasn't the type to quickly forgive. "Well, thanks, I guess…" I wasn't sure of where to go from there, and Kopaka showed no interest in continuing the conversation, so I decided to let off and turned my attention out the window instead.

The train had picked up speed, and dark scenery outlined by the starlit sky was rushing past the windows. I looked back, but by this point we'd come far enough for the lights of Onu-Koro-Nuva to no longer be visible. Suddenly, it dawned on me: I'd left my teammates behind there! They were probably really worried by this point. I had to contact them somehow, but… was I still in range to try telepathy? It had to be worth a go. I closed my eyes, and focused first on Jahlpu, or rather, tried to see if I could establish a link between him and me, even though I knew that it would be almost impossible. I could neither see him directly nor pinpoint the exact location in Onu-Koro-Nuva where he was likely to be, and so I found nothing. Frustrated, I switched to trying to contact Lerome, then Kirall, both with the same result. "Damn it…" I cursed under my breath. "I'll have to get a train back when we get to Ko-Koro-Nuva…" Looking around, I spotted a clock at the front of the car, which informed me that we'd just passed a quarter past nine. From that, I figured I should've been able to make it back there by sunrise: four hours and change there, same time back. With Kopaka apparently back in his meditative state, I decided to capitalize on the trip by getting some long-overdue sleep; the short morning nap in the Onu-Koro-Nuva hotel hadn't really been sufficient, and an afternoon and large part of the evening spent wandering around the town had left me pretty tired. So tired, in fact, that after laying down across a couple of seats, I was out in a matter of minutes.

I woke up feeling a lot better, but as soon as I sat up I realized a couple of things didn't quite add up. One: the clock read 6:45 in the morning, a time which was confirmed by the sunrise in progress outside. Two: the train was still going. Also, Kopaka was still sitting across from me, and apparently he'd gotten hold of a sandwich.

"Morning…" I said, more as a questioning observation than as a greeting. "Shouldn't… shouldn't we have gotten there already?" I wondered. Kopaka looked up, but didn't answer. "I mean, Ko-Koro-Nuva is like four hours, right?"

"You should check your ticket," the Toa of Ice suggested.

"My ticket? Sure, why not…" I produced the ticket and looked at the destination… and just about did a double take. New Atero, return ticket. "New Atero!?" I exclaimed. "What… we're going back there!?" No response. "What… what for? You got your sword back, you got yourself fixed… shouldn't you be running around in the mountains by now?"

"I did not ask you to follow," he said curtly.

"Well, you didn't give me much of an option by completely ignoring me when I was trying to tell you something," I countered. "Particularly something that I told you I really wanted to get off my chest before you left." He offered no response. "So, what was up with that?" I wondered. "What changed? Did you forget something?"

"I do not forget," he said as he looked down; I immediately feared that he was about to shut me out yet again.

"What… is there something else you need fixed?" I continued. "Some place you want to stop by or… Oh crap! This means I'm going to be gone for like two days!" I paused as I realized just how ticked off Jahlpu and the others would be. I hadn't told them anything, and now, as far as they were concerned, I'd upped and vanished on them… and what if they found that operator and learned that I'd gone back on the train running after a mysterious, angry Toa? Jahlpu'd have a fit, especially given that he'd warned Kopaka about "not getting up to anything" before. Really, whenever I got back to Onu-Koro-Nuva, if they were still there by that point, I'd have a lot to explain… This sucked, but unfortunately I really couldn't do anything about the situation. "Remind me to check my ticket before boarding next time," I sighed, more as a futile, sarcastic gesture than anything else. Still… while there was nothing I could do on that front, I did have some questions for the Toa sitting across from me.

"So… you didn't forget anything," I began reasoning out loud, "and your leg and stuff still look fine… so why are you going back? Hmm… something, some kind of circumstance must have changed…"

"Lis," he said coldly.

"Yeah?"

"You said that you were sorry for prodding after I asked you to stop."

"Yes, I did…" I didn't like were this was going.

"I am asking you now; stop prodding."

"Okay… okay, I won't," I relented, "but, will I at least get to see… eventually?" He shot me a momentary death glare, which was undoubtedly my cue to shut up, which I did. Yes, my curiosity was burning, but I didn't want to eat my own words, not right after I'd made amends. Having finished the sandwich, Kopaka returned to what I'd concluded was his favorite way to kill time; try to process something fiendishly complicated in his brain that I had little hope of deciphering. So, with that avenue closed, and having realized that I had the whole day to fill, I decided getting breakfast wouldn't be such a bad idea either, and started to make my way forward through the train to get to the dining car. It was oddly refreshing to find a dining car that wasn't in the process of hosting a party or still reeling in the aftermath of one, and for a while, as I watched the telescreen in the dining car and enjoyed breakfast, I actually felt quite happy that I didn't have to deal with the company of my teammates. Jahlpu was fine, though he'd also be the one who I'd have the most to explain to when I met them again, but in truth I missed neither Lerome nor Kirall's company. I mean, there were reasons that I'd left the first time, and while I hadn't planned on it, I decided to take this trip as some unexpected bliss. In fact, I even contemplated just staying in New Atero when I got there; I could call my teammates to inform them of where I was, and at the moment, it appeared that going back to stay a while with Macku and company was definitely one of the better options on the table, especially with the expedition they were planning. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad situation after all…

At that point, my attention was taken by one of Hahli's news reports appearing on the telescreen. It concerned the aftermath of the Kolhii game that Lerome'd been so excited about the day before; apparently, Hewkii's team had squeezed out a narrow victory, which meant the time leading up to the next game would be spent "training and refining training," as the Toa Mahri of Stone himself put it on camera. It was followed by a "Highlights of the Arena Magna" special, which convinced me it was time to go and find someplace else to sit, which led to me making my way back to the last car again, where I spent the time alternately looking at the scenery outside and flipping through what outdated newspapers were available. Occasionally, I looked to Kopaka, whose meditation provided a constant mental background that by this point I was well used to… except, I noticed there was what I could best describe as an intermittent edge to it, as though every once in a while something was welling up inside him. I couldn't quite characterize it, but I didn't want to specifically try and read deeper into his mind to figure out exactly what it was. All I could say was that it hadn't been there when I'd watched him meditate previously, which could only mean that something really had changed.

That theory was reinforced when, early in the afternoon, I came back from the dining car to find that Kopaka had shifted position and was now sitting back in the chair, hand on forehead, looking quite listless. Granted, given the intense thought patterns I saw earlier in the day I figured it was appropriate, but still, for now that meditation seemed to have uncharacteristically stopped.

"Headache?" I asked.

"No."

"I mean, if it was, I could help with that…" I offered.

"No need." Of course; even if he had a headache, he'd just tough it out. I picked up a magazine again and started to read when, to my surprise, he asked me a question. "Lis?" he got my attention.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you keep following me?" His voice had more of a raspy quality to it than usual, which complemented the tired look.

"Why did I keep following you?" I reiterated. I was taken aback; definitely not a question that I was expecting. "Well… uhm… initially it was because you were hurt…" I began, but he cut me off.

"Not then. After my leg got fixed, after Gali, after Pohatu," he explained, "why then?"

"Well, you promised to show me the final battle," I recalled.

"You could have asked Gali for that, or Tahu, and they would have offered more explanation," Kopaka pointed out. "You know that."

"Uhm… Yeah, I suppose they would have," I agreed. In fact, getting Tahu's view in particular actually sounded like a really interesting idea, given how he'd taken charge and all.

"So why me, specifically?" he asked again.

"Because… I was curious," I answered. "I mean, no one's seen you in millennia, and no one might ever see you again after… well, after you leave. I guess I wanted to learn what I could before you go. I still do." That seemed a much more satisfactory answer.

"Learn what?" he questioned.

"Learn… about being a Toa," I decided. "About what you did, and why you did it. I mean, incongruities aside… you could explain a lot of things, and I wasn't going to get your point of view from anyone else, so I took the chance, I guess. Besides, there was always something else dragging me along too, right?"

"Right…" he nodded slowly, unconvinced.

"Could I turn the question on its head?" I asked. He didn't immediately object, which I took as a "yes," so I continued: "Why did you allow me to stay?"

"Allow you to stay?"

"Like, you're not known for valuing company," I continued, "and you specifically mentioned you 'tolerated' my presence as long as I didn't… you know, ask too much. From the other Toa I've spoken to, that's a bit unusual; normally you drop people as soon as you can. Why didn't you do that with me? Did the others ask even more questions?"

"Not particularly," he answered, "and I knew I would not be stuck for long with you regardless. I did not have that guarantee before."

"Right, 'cause no one in their right mind would follow you into those mountains," I recalled. I detected a slight flash of anger at the statement; in effect, I'd said that he was insane for going into the mountains himself, something that was not entirely unintentional.

"How much longer do I have, then?" I changed the subject. "Before you leave New Atero, that is?"

"Not long," Kopaka said curtly.

"Like, you're just stopping by one or two places and then leaving?" I pushed further, hoping to get some idea of his apparently revised plans. For a second or two, he didn't answer, and the reply that followed wasn't what I wanted to hear:

"Enough for now." He pointed his gaze at the floor again, rested his elbows on his knees and his chin on folded hands. Within seconds, he was… out again, retreated into whatever he was doing that so put his brain through its paces. I was disappointed, but the fact that he'd actually asked me a question on why I kept following him kept me busy thinking for a while as well; why the sudden interest? I got the feeling he wasn't just asking because he could, like it was something that he'd been wondering in the back of his mind but hadn't bothered asking because the opportunity wasn't there; he actually had to know for some reason. Was he planning something that took me into account? That would've been very uncharacteristic of the Kopaka I'd seen and heard about up until that point, but still, it was the only real explanation I could think of. Perhaps my apology had done more than just put my mind at ease… I really wanted to ask him more, but if all that was required for him to open up even a little at this point was time then, well, I had hours to give.


	41. Chapter 41

Hours I had to give, and hours I had to spend; spend them waiting, mostly. For a while, I almost wished my teammates were on board, just to know that something was happening on the train. Having made my way through the newspapers and most of the material I felt worth watching on the telescreen, I found myself spending the hours watching scenery go by, with intermittent glances in Kopaka's direction, wondering what exactly the meaning behind his questions had been. At first, the fact that he'd asked me about why exactly I followed him had been perplexing, but increasingly, I started to think that maybe he actually cared just a little about what I thought of him. Granted, I still didn't think much of him… or did I? Thinking back over the last few days, the first things that always came to mind where the shocking moments, the way in which he'd berated Gali, Tahu, and myself. Those were the moments when he boiled over, when he simply couldn't keep it all inside anymore, the moments that I hated. Still, even when he wasn't that angry, he still alienated people on purpose. At the same time, given what I'd seen of the inside of his mind, it all made a kind of twisted sense; his anger and his self-imposed isolation were understandable, they just weren't always… justifiable. Again, though, nothing I'd seen actually accounted for him actually asking for something from my point of view, which meant I'd either missed something or something had changed significantly between our arrival in Onu-Koro-Nuva and now.

Of course, that self-imposed isolation meant that the mind that orchestrated it remained largely off-limits, though I had to admit I was tempted to try and read more closely into whatever was going through Kopaka's head in those hours. Just like that morning, even the surface signals seemed far more… tumultuous than normal, with intermittent flare-ups of emotion that the Toa of Ice would never have permitted himself to show on the outside. In spite of that, some of it did show; his calm façade wasn't perfect on this day, which showed most obviously in how much he shifted position. He alternated between leaning back in the seat, sitting hunched over and resting his chin in his hands, and all manner of positions in between, quite unusual for a Toa who I'd watched sit completely still in contemplation for hours on end. At last, with about two hours to go until we reached New Atero, I decided to be more proactive about getting to know what was bothering him. Realizing that he'd probably shut down a direct line of questioning, though, I knew I had to try and… ease my way into it. Discussing what we'd seen most recently seemed like a good place to start.

"So, what'd you think?" I asked.

"Hm?" he looked up.

"About, you know… what happened with Onua," I elaborated. "What I showed you, and what Nuparu told us."

"Tragic," he answered.

"No kidding…" I agreed. "Do you think Nuparu was right?"

"About what?"

"About not telling anyone. It's kinda been bothering me," I went on, "'cause what happens if someone else accidentally breaks one of those crystals and… you know, breathes it? It's unlikely, but just in case, shouldn't Onua's end be like a warning to them?"

"Should it?" he asked, though that question turned out to be rhetorical, as an explanation came right behind: "how many of those crystals are dug up each year?"

"Not many," I admitted.

"…and do the Matoran not know that they are fragile and should therefore be handled carefully?"

"I imagine they do."

"Then what are the risks that such an accidental exposure could happen again?"

"Low," I concluded. "Very low. But not zero."

"Low but not zero," he agreed. "Now, what would happen in Onu-Koro-Nuva if the Matoran and Agori found out that the Toa for whom they erected a three-hundred foot statue in the middle of their city died by drug-fueled suicide?"

"I imagine they wouldn't be very happy if you put it like that," I hypothesized. "Their flawless hero would be tainted, but… the truth would be out."

"Would the Matoran be better off for that truth?" he asked.

"Probably not, no…" I realized we'd come back to an argument we'd had before already. "But why couldn't you say that, like… the drugs took him down, that it wasn't his decision in the end? That'd make him look less responsible for it, and they'd still have the warning."

"Would that be the truth?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes it does, and no, it would not be," he answered both questions. "You are basing your argument on the idea that the truth has inherent value, even when its ramifications could be highly detrimental. In this case, the truth is that Onua did kill himself. Everything about that tunnel collapse was premeditated. The crystals did not help, but they alone were not responsible for his demise. By saying so, you would merely be substituting one lie for another."

"There'd still be the benefit of a warning, though," I argued.

"And some Matoran and Agori would start to ask questions," he extrapolated, "after which the full truth eventually would come to light. Would that risk be worth the benefit? No, it would not be, or at least Nuparu did not believe it to be when he made his decision on what to tell the Onu-Matoran. He weighed his options and decided it was best to leave out parts of the story for the good of the Matoran, as is his duty." As is his duty… yup, back to duty again.

"So… is that what you're doing now?" I wondered. "Weighing the options in front of you?"

"I have already made my decisions," he pointed out.

"Not all of them," I countered. "You had a plan, yes, but if you'd followed the plan completely you'd be in the mountains right now. This trip wasn't part of the plan, and I know it wasn't 'cause you're having a difficult time deciding on how to proceed."

"I know what I am going to do," he argued. "I have weighed my options. No, it was not part of the original plan, and no, I will not tell you." I noticed that, since I mentioned what he had been thinking about, a hint of melancholy'd crept into his voice…

"Okay, so… what changed your mind, then?" I kept trying. "Why did the plan change?" Kopaka stayed quiet for a moment before answering.

"You will see," he simply said, making it quite clear that he considered the matter closed. Still, that slight change at the end piqued my interest. Something about his demeanor changed when I tried to shift the conversation from what others'd done to what he was about to do, and I was pretty sure that it wasn't just his reluctance in sharing the latter subject that prompted the change. No, his mood became slightly more downcast, which reflected both in his voice and in what little signature I was reading from him. I couldn't really pinpoint the cause, but with time to spare I did indulge, once again, in mental speculation. Anger, fear, and anxiety were all possible causes, but the latter two didn't really seem to affect Kopaka very often, and the former just… didn't fit right. The only way in which Kopaka would be on this train because he was angry at something would be if he had scores to settle, which as far as I knew he didn't. Plenty of others had scores to settle with him, sure, but since when did he care about that? I couldn't imagine that he was heading back just to apologize to people for said scores either… though that was a possibility, I suppose.

Thinking about that, and a belated dinner, kept me occupied until the train's eventual arrival in New Atero, a little past seven in the evening. Unlike our last arrival in the city, the platform wasn't particularly busy. Nonetheless, Kopaka still resorted to his cloak-and-cane disguise, and even seemed to exaggerate his retained limp slightly, making the whole scene feel very déjà vu, and just like last time no one recognized him in spite of the stares he was getting. Matoran and Agori alike showed the same reverence to me as they had last time, and in spite of my talk with Nuparu, I had to admit I still wasn't fully comfortable with it. No one wanted signatures, thankfully, but even the reverent tone of voice that everyone automatically seemed to adopt on greeting me still didn't sit right. I was feeling tired, too; it's quite amazing how a long day of basically nothing happening can leave one feeling exhausted all the same. Couple that with the fact that I had no idea where within the city Kopaka's destination lay, and you get why I was getting very impatient about finding out what his amended plan was.

Arriving on the central square from the station, I noticed many of the billboards were advertising the fight between Tahu and the Porcupine, coming in two days. Kopaka stopped at the top of the stairs leading down onto the square, a moment or two of hesitation before he turned and headed west. I, however, spotted a couple of payphones at the edge of the square, and realizing the opportunity to try and tell my teammates that I was okay, I asked him to stop.

"Hey, could you wait for just a minute?" I asked. He stopped and turned but didn't immediately reply. "I've got to tell my friends that I'm, you know… okay," I explained, pointing at the payphones.

"Go ahead," he nodded.

"Thanks," I quickly made my way over to the phones and produced a widget to stick in the slot. Putting the receiver to my ear, I pressed a button labeled "OP" on the device, putting an operator on the line.

"Good evening," the operator greeted. "Where would you like to be connected to?"

"Do you have the hotel in Onu-Koro-Nuva?" I asked.

"Which one?"

"The one right by the train station," I replied. Honestly, I'd never paid much attention to what the place was called.

"I do, just a moment…" I heard a couple of beeping sounds, followed by a ring or two, after which the phone on the other end was picked up.

"Onu-Koro-Nuva Travelers' Lodge," a clearly Matoran voice answered.

"Hi," I greeted, "Do you know if the people who had rooms… 209 and 210 last time are still there?"

"I can check…"

"They were Toa, if that helps," I added.

"The Toa? Yes, in fact one of them is here right now. Do you need to speak with them?"

"Yes…" I answered, but I was cut off almost immediately by the very enthusiastic sounding voice of Lerome.

"Yo Lis!" he called loud enough for me to put some distance between my ear and the receiver, "Where've you been!?"

"Lerome, sheesh," I replied, "could you not shout, please?"

"Aw sorry sis," he apologized, "but Jahlpu's been looking all over for ya. He was getting real pissed about it, too. I mean, I thought he got angry when I threw a party in his room that one time while he was gone, but turns out I hadn't seen nothin'…"

"Okay, okay!" I interrupted him. "Could you put him on, maybe?"

"Sure, sure…" he replied, sounding a little disappointed. "Yo twinkle!" he called, his voice muffled because he'd probably covered the mouthpiece but still loud enough to be heard and understood on the other end, "go find the grumpy black guy!"

"Twinkle? Have you been drinking?" I wondered.

"No worries, sis," he assured me, "Twinkle here's a Vo-Matoran who can do this crazy lighting-spark-crackling thing with her fingers. It's a neat trick for a Matoran! Say hi, Twinkle!"

"Uhm, hi…" a somewhat shaky Matoran voice answered.

"Hi…" I greeted back unenthusiastically. ""Twinkle" isn't your actual name, is it?" Suddenly, I didn't feel so bad about leaving in the middle of the night.

"No, it's not…" she began, but Lerome jumped in again.

"Anyways, go find that guy…" he dismissed, "…oh wait, here he comes!"

"Give me that!" I heard Jahlpu yell, after which some assorted crackling noises indicated the rough transfer of the phone. "Lis, is that you?" the Toa of Earth demanded.

"Yes, yes it's me," I answered, already holding the phone at a slight distance in preparation of what was to come.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Jahlpu yelled into his end of the line. "We've been looking high and low for you!"

"I know, I know…" I attempted to pacify him.

"Where are you?"

"I'm… I'm in New Atero," I answered. "Really, if I was going anywhere else, I would've called sooner…"

"Sure, sure…" he said sarcastically. "Did you follow your mysterious friend?"

"Yes," I admitted, "but he's not dangerous or anything… he's leaving soon altogether, but he had one last stop to make in this city, so I went with him."

"Right…" Jahlpu sighed. "That's all?"

"Yes, it is. I can come back after we're done," I offered.

"Yeah, we'll be here for a while," Jahlpu admitted. "I might have a place lined up, and Kirall is going under the knife for like a week…"

"Look, I'd love to chat, really," I interrupted, "but I'm kind of in a hurry here. I'll call you back whenever we're done, okay?"

"Okay," Jahlpu agreed, "just… be careful out there. And next time, if you have to leave, please tell me."

"Will do," I promised. "Bye."

"Good night."

That was the end of it, and good thing too, since I was just about out of time on one widget. Satisfied that my teammates wouldn't be worried about my whereabouts, I turned and found Kopaka standing in front of the statue in the center of the square. There was barely anyone around now; the train's passengers had largely dispersed, and with the sun rapidly setting on the horizon and a cold breeze setting in, most Matoran and Agori preferred the comfort of their homes at this hour. I made my way over to the center, too: the statue of the Great Spirit Robot rose to about sixty feet tall from a circular pool. It stood, illuminated from below and looking upwards, but with its feet offset and its knees still slightly bent, as though it was in the process of getting up out of the water while gazing at the stars above. Turning to face the statue, the Toa of Ice stood still, looking upwards at the gleaming, dark granite construct. I stood beside him for a minute, remembering how much larger the real thing had been from the memory of the Battle for Bara Magna… in light of what I'd seen, this was a very faithful interpretation, though.

"So, what does this represent?" I asked. "The moment, I mean."

"Hm?" Kopaka turned to me, apparently coming out of deeper thoughts than I'd realized.

"It looks like it's standing up," I elaborated. "Like, getting up, you know?"

"This," Kopaka said as he looked back up to the statue, "this was the moment in which I fulfilled my destiny, in which all the Toa Nuva fulfilled theirs. We awakened Mata Nui. Here, he rises from the ocean of Aqua Magna."

"Really?" I asked. "I mean, I thought the Battle for Bara Magna…"

"That was not part of the plan," Kopaka interrupted. "Makuta Teridax intervened and took over the body. That began the reign of shadows."

"The Matoran's darkest hour," I remembered the description from when I was taught history years before.

"That it was," Kopaka agreed. We stood still for a bit, still looking up at the statue. I tried to imagine what it was like, living inside of that titanic contraption and finding out that one day, your greatest enemy had turned it all against you. Failing that, I looked over to Kopaka again and noticed that he seemed to have a sense of… trepidation, of unease about him, like he wasn't sure of exactly what he was doing, which reinforced the notion that he was acting 'off-plan' here.

"So, what are we doing here?" I tried again. Kopaka didn't answer, so I waited again for a minute or so, looking at the statue and around the square in general. The chilly breeze animated the flags of Matoran and Agori tribes all around; it took me a minute to figure out which one belonged to the Ce-Matoran.

"Lis?" Kopaka suddenly asked.

"Yeah?" I turned back to him, but found that he hadn't taken his eyes off of the statue.

"When we first met, what did I tell you about the Toa?" Now that was a surprising question.

"Uhm…" I thought back to that first train ride from Ko-Koro-Nuva. What had he said? "You… you told me that the world didn't need Toa anymore," I recalled, "and that I'd have a hard time finding a purpose."

"And, over this last week, between all the Toa you have met, do you think I was right?" he continued. For some reason, I felt like this was a test of some kind, and a cumulative one at that.

"Most of them would agree, I think…" I remembered. "I mean, Tahu said the same thing, so did Nuparu, Hahli, and even Lewa, in that letter. Yeah… the Toa don't really have a purpose here, do they? Not as Toa, that is."

"Not as Toa…" Kopaka nodded slightly. "What else did Lewa say in that letter?"

"He wrote it to explain himself," I recalled, "to explain why he flew into Mt. Valmai's eruption. Suicide by natural disaster."

"Why did he?" Kopaka questioned.

"Because… he wanted to leave the Le-Matoran with a legend," I continued. "He said that he couldn't grow old and bitter among them, and he didn't want to push himself to breaking point like Pohatu, so he wanted to end it at the top, you know? I guess it worked, I mean, from what I heard from Lerome, the Le-Matoran still see him as a hero."

"Like the Onu-Matoran with Onua…" Kopaka mused, uncharacteristically. From that, for the first time, I got the impression that I was having a real conversation with him, without the elements of the seemingly pre-planned verbal duels that usually made up his verbal interaction.

"Actually," I remembered, "Lewa warned Onua about that… about not getting too caught up in what he did. He said that Onua would be able to offer the Matoran more than just a legend; he could provide wisdom for centuries to come."

"He warned Onua of that?" Kopaka turned to me, clearly a bit surprised.

"Yes," I confirmed, "though in the end, it didn't save Onua… Lewa reckoned without those crystals, I suppose. Now they're both revered as heroes… kind of like you to the Ko-Matoran."

"Lewa," Kopaka said in a sudden, darker tone, "was a noisy and reckless fool." He looked back up at the statue for a minute. "But, for once, he was right…"

"About what?" I wondered.

"In the end," Kopaka answered, now with a sense of foreboding to his voice, "all we are, or will be to the Matoran… are legends." With that, he suddenly turned around and took off with a renewed vigor to his pace. It wasn't joyful by any means; it was a fast, determined walk, a walk with purpose. I hurried to catch up and follow, noting that the unease, that sense of trepidation on his mind had vanished. He'd made his decision and had formulated a plan, whatever it was. He headed straight south, then turned west and entered a section of narrow roads, alleyways, and corridors, which he deftly navigated as usual, but which for a while left me pretty confused as to what exactly our destination was.

"So, where are we going?" I asked Kopaka as we were walking by a small neighborhood Kolhii field. He gave no answer, so I tried figuring it out myself by counting off the places where we'd been before in my head: Macku, Gali, and the Toa Mahri in New Atero lived on the east side, close to the waterfront, while Tahu's place was on the north end of the city, so we definitely weren't heading to either of those places. This route obviously wouldn't take us near the Arena Magna, nor the city center in general… which I suddenly realized left only one possible place: Pohatu's house.


	42. Chapter 42

As soon as I deduced that we were heading for Pohatu's, I started to spot signs that that was in fact our destination. The modern, glass-and-steel buildings that made up the city center gave way to structures with more concrete and then brick, while the roads and buildings got progressively dustier. I even recognized a few roads that we'd followed three days before, after leaving Pohatu's place the first time. At our pace, I estimated that it would take a good hour-and-a-half to reach it, and throughout it all, Kopaka maintained the fast, silent pace. Indeed, a little past nine in the evening, we found ourselves standing in front of the dilapidated, brick structure that was the current residence of the Toa Nuva of Stone. It didn't look much different from the last time: two wooden crates, filled to the brim with empty bottles, were taking up the space in the overgrown garden next to the front door, ready to be taken away with other garbage. The one front window, its ragged curtain closed, showed that there was a dim light inside. Coming to the door, Kopaka hesitated for a moment.

"So, why are we here?" I asked. "I thought you said your goodbyes."

"We did," Kopaka said dourly.

"Then, why are we here?" I repeated myself, keeping my voice down just in case the Toa inside would hear.

"Unfinished business," Kopaka sighed and opened the door before I got the chance to keep asking. He walked in, and I followed right behind, making sure to close the door again behind me. The place looked almost exactly like how we'd left it: the single trophy on the shelf, the folded wheelchair in the corner, and the recliner facing the telescreen, which was producing all the light and noise in the room, though there wasn't much of either since its volume was not turned up high. Slumped in the recliner, which was surrounded by at least eight empty bottles from what I could see, was the Toa Nuva of Stone.

"Brother," Kopaka greeted as he slowly crossed the room, careful not to kick or trip over any bottles. He got no response, so he maneuvered himself around the chair until he was in front of Pohatu, but not between him and the telescreen. I followed a short distance behind, eventually positioning myself next to the bedroom door. "Brother, I am back," Kopaka greeted again, and again he got no response. Pohatu, leaning back in the chair, appeared to be half-asleep, eyes barely open and fixed on the telescreen. Apparently tired of trying to get his attention verbally, Kopaka reached forward and shook the Toa of Stone's shoulder. "Wake up," he said in about as quiet and soothing a voice as I think he could ever have managed.

"Wh… who…" Pohatu finally seemed to slowly come to some kind of consciousness, turning his head to look at Kopaka. "who… who's there?"

"Your brother, Kopaka," the Toa of Ice answered. "I have come back for you."

"Kopaka…" Pohatu let out the name with a shallow, breathless sigh, still clearly not quite in his right mind.

"Yes, it is me," Kopaka answered. "Do you recognize me?"

"Uhm…" Pohatu let out a long sigh, again, then almost by instinct leant to the right and reached down with his arm, retrieving what by the sound of the liquid sloshing inside was a nearly empty bottle. "One minute…" he said as he proceeded to raise the bottle to drink from it. Kopaka, however, put his left hand on Pohatu's arm and easily pushed the bottle aside.

"No, no more of that," he said, still retaining a softness to his voice that before then I hadn't thought he could muster.

"Hey, that's… that's mine…" Pohatu protested meekly.

"And you are going to put it down," Kopaka said as he grabbed the bottle and, again, without much effort pulled it out of his brother's hand, after which he set it down on the ground and out of the latter's reach.

"No… no, it's… it's fine…" Pohatu stammered. "It's been… it's been a while…"

"You're still drunk," Kopaka asserted. "Go back to sleep." He put Pohatu's arm back down on the armrest of the chair.

"Stupid visions…" Pohatu uttered as he began to drift back into unconsciousness. Within seconds, he was out. Kopaka held there for a minute, then straightened up and walked over to me. Keeping his voice barely above a whisper, he told me:

"We need to get rid of the bottles. I will get these; you check the kitchen."

"Right," I nodded. I still didn't really get what his plan was, since I knew he didn't want to stay for long, but I wasn't going to argue against dispatching of the alcohol present. So, while he cleared the area around the chair and picked up what was scattered around the living room, I went through the fridge and all the kitchen drawers, producing six more bottles that, so far, hadn't been opened. Kopaka, meanwhile, also checked the bedroom, but found nothing there. We took the bottles outside and set them down next to the crates already present.

"We need to get rid of these, completely," Kopaka repeated. "Can you go and find some place to throw them away?"

"Sure," I answered. "Just… what are you planning on doing?" Kopaka sighed, then thought for a moment.

"Just get rid of the bottles," he answered as he turned to head back inside.

"Right then…" I looked up and down the street, hoping to spot some kind of dump site, but I didn't see any at first. On a hunch, I took the two crates and headed down the road south, where within a minute or two I came across a side alley. It was only a narrow space between the sides of two taller buildings, but it seemed to be a common dumping ground for garbage, judging by the number of boxes and bags that were already stashed near the entrance. Figuring that the bottles would blend in just fine, I pulled them out of the crates and stacked them next to a couple of steel bins. I returned to Pohatu's place with the empty crates, loaded up the rest of the bottles, and then took them away as well. By now, it had gotten properly chilly outside, so I was glad when I could head back in even though the heating in Pohatu's place was pretty dismal. To my surprise, I found Kopaka in the kitchen, scrubbing some long caked-on food remnants off of a set of plates.

"Doing the dishes?" I observed. He didn't answer to me pointing out the obvious. Looking around the kitchen, I noticed he'd already cleaned up some of the pots and pans that had been lying around the place earlier. "So, we came back to clean Pohatu's house?"

"That is part of it," Kopaka replied. "I do not want it to look so disheveled."

"Right…" I nodded. I wasn't all that surprised that Kopaka may have wanted the house to reflect his usually organized mind, but he'd insisted repeatedly that we weren't staying for long, so what was the point? "So, you think that a clean house will help Pohatu clean up his act?" I asked, somewhat incredulously.

"No," he answered, "but while I wait for him to sober up I might as well do something."

"Fair point," I agreed. "So, while you're doing this, I'll… straighten up the bedroom?"

"Go ahead," he answered. So I did, and soon found that, apart from making the bed, there wasn't much to do in the bedroom. In a small side closet, I found Pohatu's armor, two heavy, metal blocks, and a set of pincer-like contraptions all lying in a pile. At first, the purpose of the blocks and pincers eluded me, but then I recognized them as Pohatu's Toa tools. Judging by the layer of dust and the rust spots that covered them, I imagined they hadn't been taken out in ages. In fact… pretty much everything in the place was very, very dusty, so with little else to do, I retrieved a wet rag from the kitchen and proceeded to wipe it off. The armor soon got some of its sheen back, though the rust was still evident. Returning to the kitchen, I found that Kopaka was cleaning off the countertops and empty cabinets, so I followed his example, went back to the bedroom, and wiped down every horizontal surface I could find. First the windowsill, then the side tables, then the shelf in the closet… At one point, a familiar hacking noise from the living room attracted my attention; Pohatu was about to throw up again, it seemed. By the time I got there, though, Kopaka'd already arrived on scene with a pot, which in the aftermath he'd clearly have to wash again.

"Choking again, huh?" I observed from the bedroom doorway.

"Thankfully, he is not in as bad a way as he was last time," Kopaka identified. He set the pot down beside the chair; the Toa of Stone had returned to peaceful slumber. Kopaka got up and looked around. By virtue of its emptiness, the living room was already quite clean, with the exception of the thick layers of dust on the desk, the telescreen, and the shelves populated by the lone remaining trophy. He turned and lowered the volume on the telescreen to zero. "Dust these off," he gestured over the desk and at the shelves. "I will take care of the pot… again." With that, he picked up the pot and took it back to the kitchen. I followed him, rinsed the rag, and came back to clean off the shelves, looking back periodically to see if Pohatu was doing okay. Lying back in that chair, he looked relatively fine; out of shape, yes, and definitely in need of maintenance, but nothing on the outside really betrayed how far his mind had gone. Indeed, knowing that sooner or later, the Toa Nuva of Stone had to wake up, I found myself wondering what state of mind he'd be in, and what exactly Kopaka was planning to do about it.

It was about thirty minutes later that Kopaka finally seemed satisfied; I'd gone over all the shelves, and the trophy as well, while he'd practically turned the kitchen upside down, finding lots of old, rotten, and broken things to throw out in the process. One of the crates out front served as makeshift trash can.

"Well, I guess it does look a lot better now…" I looked around the living room at the result of our handiwork.

"Significantly," Kopaka concurred.

"So," I yawned, "what exactly was the point of all this? Are we staying a while?"

"No," Kopaka answered as he turned for the door.

"We're leaving? Now?" I followed behind.

"No, we are not," Kopaka answered. "Get rid of that." He pointed at the garbage crate by the door. "Leave it wherever you left the bottles." I noticed his mood was dropping again; not frustration per se… more anxiety, anxiety about what was coming. It made me wonder whether the surface house cleaning was just to kill time.

"Uhm, sure…" I moved past him, picked up the crate, and headed out the door. The offal inside had quite the stench about it, which made the trip decidedly more unpleasant than the previous two had been. This time, I elected just to leave the whole crate behind; given its rickety state, and with the garbage and the bottles gone, I figured that it had done its job. On the way back, I started trying to think of what the point of this whole endeavor was. Kopaka'd already acknowledged, last time, that there was nothing he could really do for Pohatu, or was concerned to do… and yet here we were. What was he planning to do, and for that matter, what had prompted the change of plan in the first place? He still hadn't answered… perhaps, perhaps that was because he didn't really know the answer himself. Of course, he wouldn't admit it if he didn't, but it seemed a reasonable possibility. I returned to the house to find that Pohatu was no longer occupying the chair; Kopaka'd moved him to the bed, and had taken up the same post beside him that he'd occupied a few nights before, with a pot still at the ready.

"It's gone," I informed him, not proceeding past the doorway into the bedroom.

"Good," he answered.

"So… anything else we could do?" I wondered. Kopaka looked up to me.

"You look tired," he observed, quite to my surprise.

"Yeah, it's been a long day…" I suddenly realized. Between running around Onu-Koro-Nuva on four hours of sleep, the long train ride, and midnight cleaning, I was starting to feel it.

"Get some rest," Kopaka advised.

"I thought we weren't staying long," I remarked.

"We would not be…" Kopaka admitted as he turned back to Pohatu, "…but he wasn't ready."

"Oh… okay," I nodded. "Ready for what?"

"Just… go and sleep for a while," he sighed.

"Okay, sure…" I yawned again. Don't take me wrong; I welcomed the opportunity to use that chair again, but I really didn't want to miss what Kopaka was planning. He seemed so… uncharacteristically conflicted about it: the hesitations, the way he seemed to stall for time, the musing… The air of unease of this second trip had been palpable ever since he'd gotten back on that train after I showed him Onua's demise. Back then, there'd been a sense of purpose, an angry spirit that seemed to drive him back, but that had vanished within minutes when the train got rolling, like it had been a heat-of-the-moment decision. The Kopaka I knew didn't do things on impulse like that, yet this whole trip back seemed to have started with one. Was that what bothered him so? The fact that he had been propelled into action by a moment of unchecked emotion? With the opportunity for some shut-eye in the comfiest chair in the world, I wasn't going to question it now, but after whatever this was ended, I definitely had some questions for the Toa Nuva of Ice. Unfortunately, the returning of Toa Nuva company meant the return of the… unintended mind-reading. I had been lucky to remain clear of it on the train trip back, but this night I once again experienced what, to me, were more like nightmares.

I'm in a tunnel again. By virtue of it being a tunnel, it is difficult to know where exactly, but the fact that there's only one lightstone here, the one laying in the tunnel behind me, makes it pretty clear that this isn't a mining tunnel. It's small, with a ceiling barely a foot higher than I am tall, and I'm standing at the end of it, it seems. I'm holding out my blade in front of me. The tip just touches the wall of earth and stone in front as I channel my elemental powers through it, causing what little moisture exists in the ground to rapidly freeze. The cold… the cold makes things brittle, I know, and now that glittering streaks of ice crisscross the wall in front of me, I think it's just about brittle enough… I raise my shield and activate my mask. A tremendous surge of power seems to flow through me as, with a deafening crash, I bring the shield down and shove it forward, impacting the heavy metal disk into the wall with as much force as I can muster. It works: deep cracks have appeared, radiating out from the impact. I raise the shield, and bring it down again. This time, the wall gives way, the rocks breaking into pieces that come tumbling down. I begin shoving the pulverized rubble aside, clearing the six foot or so section that I've opened up, and move the lightstone forward. Satisfied, I pause and listen for a moment… there's an intermittent sound, a sound of stone grinding against stone, coming from somewhere in the earth nearby…

Instinctively, I immediately assume a ready stance, frosty air already condensing around my blade. I switch back to the Akaku Nuva; whatever is coming for me will not have the element of surprise. Just as I activate the mask, the wall to my right gives way in a cascade of earth and rock, forcing me aside and against the opposite wall. For a moment, I fear a tunnel collapse, but I'm not buried. Instead, looking at the pile of rubble that now occupies part of the tunnel, I notice something inside… the glimmer of metal. Quickly, I clamber onto the rubble and, putting my weapon to the side, start removing rocks to excavate whatever it is. It takes mere moments, and I recognize it immediately; it's one of Pohatu's tools! Not wasting a moment, I stow it away and activate my mask, scanning the collapsed earth and the wall opposite me. I see, I see… two rahkshi! Their armor looks battered, crushed… but I cannot guarantee they are dead. Best to leave them be, but… buried very, very close to them is the other tool, and buried not ten feet away… it's Pohatu!

Upon identifying the Toa of Stone, I immediately get up, move to the end of the tunnel, and place my blade against the wall in his direction. Once again, I send my elemental powers into the wall, stone cracking as I fill every free orifice with ice and freeze what little water the ground already contains. I'm going all out on this one; the fewer hits it takes to get to Pohatu, the better his chances. Satisfied that the wall ahead of me is almost covered in a solid sheet of ice, I switch masks again, to the Pakari Nuva. I take a step back, and activate the mask, feeling that surge of energy coursing through my body again… and shove forward, bashing my shield into the wall. Much of it crumbles and collapses around me; I put an arm over my head, wait for the falling rocks to subside, and open my eyes. There's more frozen wall ahead. I repeat the process, hurling myself shield-first into the next wall with all my might, and again, the earth crumbles in front of me. This time, when I look up, I see an arm! Wasting no time, I clamber over the rubble I've just created, and start digging at the arm's shoulder, where it retreats into the wall. I keep the Pakari on, using the extraordinary strength it provides to tear aside one rock, one clump of earth after another, frantically digging towards Pohatu's head. Less than a minute later, I've exposed his face… his eyes are closed, and his mask has a few dents, but he could be, he has to be okay.

"Wake up…" I lean close and whisper, not wanting to be surprised by Rahkshi bursting through the wall on my right. Pohatu offers no response, so I try again: "Wake up," a little louder. I put a hand around his mouth and shake his head a bit. For a moment, there's no response, but then, a cough! Suddenly, his eyes spring wide open.

"Whoa!" he exclaims, struggling to catch his breath. "Onu-Koro! The Matoran! The Rahkshi…" he looks over and suddenly notices me. "Kopaka!?"

"Keep it down," I urge him. He takes the advice and looks around as much as his still-restrained body will let him. "You are okay," I advise. "Here, I will get you out…"

"I, I think I got it…" he protests as, under his influence, some of the rocks already begin to move. I help out, pulling aside one after another, and it's not long before my brother is free.

"What happened?" I ask him.

"Onu-Koro…" he answers with a slight tremble to his voice. "Rahkshi arrived; Onua and I couldn't stop them. He brought down the roof to slow them down."

"Brought down the roof on Onu-Koro?" I must admit I'm surprised. "Was that the loud rumbling I heard?"

"No doubt," Pohatu concurs. "The Onu-Matoran got out, but the village is no more…"

"That is too bad," I commiserate, "but we have to warn the others."

"The chronicler and the Captain of the Guard were here," Pohatu continues. "They escaped, too; I'm sure they got word out already." He stands up and stretches, trying to get over the stiffness that comes with being buried for several hours.

"In that case, we should join them," I assert. "By the way," I take out the Toa tool, "I believe this is yours."

"So it is, thanks," he smiles, taking the tool back and momentarily inspecting it for damage.

"Where is Onua?" I wonder.

"You didn't find him?" Pohatu's expression is suddenly a worried one.

"No."

"Well, he's got to be around here somewhere," the Toa of Stone continues, immediately switching to his own Akaku. "Let's scan the rock."

"Right." I concur, switching my mask as well. Again, activating it seems almost like a summons more than anything, as a sudden rumbling sound catches both of us off guard.

"Where's that coming from?" Pohatu asks, but before I can answer, a metal… thing suddenly emerges from the wall beside me, accompanied by the sound of a screaming engine.

"I believe I have an answer!" I shout over the noise as the screaming object moves down, carving a deep gash into the wall, after which it finally stops.

"Move back!" a voice calls from inside; I do so immediately, and barely in time as a sudden, loud impact sends the wall flying towards me in pieces. Peering over my shield after the rocks have settled, I spot a familiar Toa standing in the newly created entrance.

"What was all that noise about?" Onua asks.


	43. Chapter 43

It was nice to wake up from an unintentional memory reading without being drenched in cold sweat, though I wasn't feeling all that rested yet. I looked around. It was still dark out; it couldn't have been long since I'd fallen asleep, but since Pohatu's apartment lacked a clock of any kind I couldn't tell what time it actually was. Then again… I got up, loathe to leave the comfy chair behind, and made my way over to the telescreen. Making sure the sound volume was as low as it would go, I turned it on and eventually found a news channel that had a clock on screen: 1:32 AM. Unsurprisingly, at this hour, there wasn't much news to report or to watch, so my mind drifted back again to what I'd just seen. This last memory was different, different from the ones I'd seen before. I'd seen some of the best and worst moments in the Toa Nuva's collective history, but they'd always been… heated memories, I guess. Ones in which there was a lot of anger, a lot of arguing and/or fighting. I hadn't really seen much in the way of happy memories, or ones in which some actual success was achieved without resorting to desperate measures; given the Toa Nuva's current situation, I guess they didn't come to anyone's mind much. Granted, even this last one was in the aftermath of one of those desperate measures, but it seemed hopeful in a way that many of the others didn't. Before, the memories I'd inadvertently picked up had always seemed somehow relevant to what the thinker was experiencing at the time… so, speaking of the thinker, how was he doing?

I found Kopaka still sitting by Pohatu's bedside, empty pot at his feet just in case the need for it would suddenly arise. He was facing the bed, sitting in his usual, hunched over meditative pose. Walking into the bedroom, I noticed that his eyes were off in the distance somewhere, looking through the small, high window of the bedroom. I stood there for a bit, unsure of whether I really wanted to jog him out of it at this hour, but then he snapped out of it himself.

"Lis." He didn't move, didn't look at me, and his voice had an unusual softness to it.

"Yeah, I'm here," I replied, wondering whether or not he was going somewhere with the conversation. I waited for a while, but it didn't seem like he was; he'd acknowledged my presence, but that would be it from his side.

"How is he?" I asked.

"Improving," Kopaka answered. "He appears to be doing better than last time."

"That's good, I guess…" I wasn't sure where to go with that, and once again, Kopaka seemed content to leave the subject be. "So, I saw something again," I began, then waited, trying to gauge his response. At first, I got no reaction.

"Go on," he eventually said.

"It… it was after something in Onu-Koro," I recalled. "You were digging, like, actually making a tunnel, and you found Pohatu buried deep down with some Rahkshi."

"Onu-Koro, yes…" he remembered. "I heard the rumbling sound and made my way to one of its vents… it had collapsed, as had everything below."

"Right, and Pohatu and Onua were left down there while the Matoran escaped," I filled in.

"They sacrificed themselves," Kopaka said, his eyes falling onto Pohatu again. "I suspect they would have been left down there if I had not found them."

"I could feel that," I added. "I could feel you were… worried about them, and I could feel the weight lifted when you found him and he woke up." I gestured towards Pohatu.

"Worried?" Kopaka turned to me, his voice taking on a harsher tone. "I was doing my duty, Lis. We could not leave them down there. Even if it was not me, someone else would have gone to search for them, and if not Onua would have survived on his own. He would not have left Pohatu behind. I simply happened to get there first." His explanation made some sense, but he was being rather defensive about it, I felt.

"That's unusually humble for you," I pointed out.

"Not humble, practical," he corrected, turning his attention back to the Toa in the bed.

"Look, it's not a bad thing," I pointed out. "I mean, I would've been worried, too. And happy afterwards. Like, let's celebrate happy." He didn't pick up on the comment. I sighed: "Whatever… you still saved him."

"So it seems," he concluded. We sat in silence, him watching over Pohatu as always while I pondered the significance of him thinking about that time he saved Pohatu in our current situation. Then I got an idea.

"So, is that what you're doing now?" I asked.

"Doing what?"

"Saving him," I explained. "Saving him from… from himself. Getting him out of the bottle and all." Kopaka sighed, his eyes staying on Pohatu as he seemed to ponder an answer. On the plus side, that meant he was considering not immediately shutting me down. Perhaps he'd even admit that I'd figured it out… okay, maybe that was too hopeful.

"No," he finally said.

"No?" I was a bit taken aback. Why else could he have been thinking of that particular memory? "What is it, then?" I asked again.

"As I said before, you will see," he replied, sounding agitated. He wasn't the only one feeling that way, though.

"You already said we will not be staying long," I reminded him, "so yeah, I guess you're not here to save him, but you wouldn't come back just to clean up his house either…"

"Lis…" he interrupted, his voice becoming stern without raising its volume. Its implication was clear.

"I'm just trying to figure it out," I continued. "I mean, on our first time in the city there at least was a plan, but I'm honestly not sure what you're going for here, and it doesn't make sense to me. So, I'm trying to reason my way to whatever you're doing."

"Reason in silence," he ordered, "or leave. You always have that option."

"No, I can't," I countered, "because something's different about this trip, and about you. Ever since I showed you what happened with Onua, you've been… different. I want to know what's up."

"I was working on the plan," Kopaka explained, "and I had no reason to make you privy to it."

"And I suppose you still don't, right?"

"I do not," he concluded.

"Fine…" I relented. "I'll see you in the morning, I guess." I turned and was about to walk out when he posed a question.

"What time is it?"

"Time? Little after one-thirty," I answered. Looking back, I noticed just for a moment that he seemed… disappointed. Worried, even, and not just in the way that I'd been feeling ever since we got back on that train. It was more like a spike, like he realized he'd lost track of the time. "What's so important about it?" I asked.

"Could you watch him?" Kopaka circumvented the question.

"Him?" I gestured towards Pohatu. "I could, I guess… Are you tired?"

"I have something I need to take care of," Kopaka replied.

"At one-thirty in the morning?" I questioned. "What could you possibly do at this hour?"

"Not your concern," he answered as he got up.

"You're not going away, are you?" I realized, "not now."

"No. I will be back," he assured me.

"I wouldn't put it above you to leave regardless," I continued. "I mean, you've already walked out of here once. Why wouldn't you do it now?"

"Because, as I already told you, I have unfinished business," Kopaka explained. "What I am going to do will not affect that.

"I hope it doesn't…" I trailed off as he moved past me.

"Just make sure he does not drown," he instructed as he exited the room and made his way to the front door.

"How long before you'll be back?" I called after him.

"One hour." With that, he was out of the building, leaving me to wait and wonder whether he'd really come back. Granted, when he'd told me that he had unfinished business, it had always been implied that it was here, but somehow I wasn't all that confident that he wouldn't construct an elaborate ruse just to get away for good. All he had to do was to find a way to frame it around duty, I figured. Then again, if all he'd wanted to do was to get away, he could've done so already… Pondering this, I stepped back into the bedroom and took up his post by the side of the bed. Pohatu was still out cold, no surprise there, and judging by the state of the bucket he really was doing better than when last we met him. I recalled how that had ended; two brothers and former best friends, the only friend as far as one of them was concerned, at loggerheads over the question of the Toa Code… Pohatu counted among the many I'd now met who believed the title of Toa to be superfluous in this new world, while Kopaka championed it, if only to make some sense of the life he now pursued. From what Kopaka'd said afterwards, I'd figured their friendship had ended there in his mind, but his behavior now indicated that was far from the case. Still, in light of everything he'd told me, what could he possibly do here in as short a time as he'd said he'd intended to stay?

Getting nowhere with that, I instead found myself looking into Pohatu again. I'd gotten a look at what was left of his mind before, when he'd woken up and not realized who Kopaka was. It'd been a rough experience, given that I'd also seen their last goodbye before then, but it had become immediately clear to me then that Pohatu's mind was slipping and had been for some time. The deluge of pain signals had shocked me, too. Now, with time to spare and with the Toa of Stone alone and at rest, perhaps I could look a bit closer… I focused in on him almost before I realized what I was doing; I was getting better at this. As I focused, the broad, baseline strokes of his mental state started to unravel and split into countless more detailed strands, anything and everything that he was processing contained within. Most of it looked normal, for someone asleep, though the same 'dark spots' that I'd noticed before were still there, and a few 'red strands' were interwoven throughout. A brain at rest it may have been, but a healthy brain it wasn't, the damage of years spent drunk or hung over clearly evident.

After a while, an intermittent flash of activity caught my eye. At first, I thought it was some kind of cyclic process, I guess, some signal his brain sent to his body on a regular schedule, like the beat of a heartlight but slower. However, it was more complex than that, so I started to focus on the spot where it appeared. I waited a few seconds, and sure enough, it happened again… and for a brief moment, I saw something. An image, or a fragment of one, a small snapshot of a dream, perhaps. But dreams would present a constant flow of information, of some kind of process going on, which this wasn't. I waited for it to appear again, hoping to catch whatever it was and get a clearer view this time…

It's dark… a cave of some kind, I suspect. But it's not a natural cave; no way. Lots of columns are dispersed around its perimeter, and a carving of something is on the opposite wall, maybe… fifty feet away? That's not my concern, though… There's something on the columns and the floor around them, some kind of dark, green webbing, a grimy, organic looking substance that should have no space in a cave.

"What do you see?" a slightly anxious voice calls from behind me. I turn to see, standing on the stairs in a tunnel leading upwards, is a Matoran. He's unusually small, and his colors make no sense, but…

Krrr-Chuck! SPLOTCH! The sound of some kind of mechanism going off is followed rapidly by a heavy blob of some kind of mucoid substance hitting me in the side of the head. My vision is gone instantly. Bolts of pain shoot through me as this, whatever this is, seems to set my nerves on fire. An ominous chittering sound accompanied by the unmistakable whirr of motors seems to be coming from my right… it's an ambush!

The memory ended as abruptly as it began; a mere fragment it may have been, but… what was happening there? Then I realized something; there was a flurry of signals flying all over the place all of the sudden, signals that weren't there before I started to focus on that spot where these fragments appeared. Wondering what exactly they represented, I drew back a bit, trying to figure out the origin. Then I detected another center of activity, so to speak, which seemed to be slowly but surely igniting the region around it. At the time, I didn't realize what that meant; I did notice that part of the same region that I'd just been observing lit up again, too, and quickly focused in on it hoping to catch whatever happened next in that memory fragment I'd seen. Given the duration of the previous fragments, it should've vanished before I ever cobbled together a decent picture, but instead, this one seemed to last longer…

It's dark, but this isn't the cave. I can't seem to focus my eyes at all, but the slight tint of brown as opposed to green to whatever place I'm in makes it pretty clear that this is not where I was before… it seems I've lost my opportunity. Still, I'm getting some of the smell of this place, and it's an awfully familiar one. Slowly but surely, my eyes are beginning to adjust, and I can make out that I am in a room, probably looking at the ceiling. A spot of movement on the right side of my vision catches my attention; looking there, I notice a flicker of a shadow before it's gone again… what was that? Is there something in this room with me? Who's there? Again, I notice movement in my peripheral vision, this time to the left, or right in front of where I was looking before. Again, it seems to vanish the moment I look at where it appeared to be. What kind of phantoms… hang on, there's something else.

My eyes slowly drift to the left, where something seems to be emitting a faint, blue light. Noticing it, I look towards the source; there's two of them, but they're just a little too bright to distinguish what they are while my eyes are adjusted to the dark… I look away slightly but keep the lights in my peripheral vision, then raise myself up to a half-sitting position and slowly turn back to the lights as I start to make out more details. Those two lights… they're eyes! Eyes with a faint, pale blue glow, belonging to a dark figure that's just sitting there, sitting on a chair and looking at me. It's not moving a muscle, sitting almost at attention, but that gaze… it's haunting, in the sense that it seems to look beyond me, into me, through me. What is this, this… thing? I start picking up on some details of its body. It's armored… armored with shades of some dark color, but highlights in gold. Hang on… highlights in gold. In gold! That's me!

The moment it dawned on me that I was looking at the present, not the past, I immediately drew back from the picture, and from Pohatu's mind altogether. That process, that igniting of the nerve endings was him waking up! I'd gotten so caught up in his mind, was looking so closely at what was happening there, that I'd paid no attention to what I was actually seeing. I blinked once, twice, then found myself fully back in the room. I almost jumped at the sight; Pohatu was no longer lying down, he was sitting half-upright just as I'd felt him doing for that moment, and his face, his eyes were dead-locked on mine. He said nothing, didn't move a muscle, in fact he barely seemed to be breathing… like he was echoing what he was seeing in me, except in his eyes were empty. Like, when you look into anyone else's eyes, you can usually see sign of life, of intelligence, ever so slight. Somehow you can just tell that. But here, in Pohatu's, that spark was missing. His was a dead-eyed gaze, devoid of any sign of personality, of emotion, of recognition… like a man possessed, and nothing like the Pohatu I'd seen before. It was eerie beyond what I can describe, and for a second or two I just sat there, frozen in response, unsure of whether he would lash out, scream, or do something else I wouldn't like at all, but he remained devoid of any motion whatsoever.

"Uhm… hello?" I said timidly. Somehow, I felt like I'd been caught in some kind of criminal act. Pohatu didn't respond. "I'm Lis," I introduced myself. "Do you remember me?" Not so much as a blink. It was like I was talking to a mannequin. "I was here before," I continued, "a couple of nights ago. I was with Kopaka, your friend. Do you remember Kopaka?" Still nothing. "Tall guy, white armor… The Toa Nuva?" I tried again. "You served us breakfast. Bread and… something. Remember that?" Still silence. For a moment, I feared that his mind had locked up or something like that, and to be fair, with the way I'd looked, glowy-eyed, sitting motionless, and staring into his soul, I couldn't have blamed him for being scared beyond his wits. Thinking that didn't prepare me for his reaction, however.

He suddenly lurched forward, his mask coming within a foot of mine, bared his teeth, and produced a noise that I can only describe as something that started as a kind of bark but ended more as a loud hiss. "BRWASSSSSS!" I'd never heard the like of it, and for moment it all but scared the wits out of me.

"Whoa!" I bolted upright and took a step back from the aggressive display. Pohatu looked up, his eyes following mine, then suddenly clicked his teeth made that same primal sound again. "Hey, calm down," I beckoned, raising my hands to try and placate him. "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm not here to do anything…"

"Go!" he exclaimed in a voice that was his yet not, between all the hissing and bared teeth. "GO AWAY!" he repeated, then followed up with the weird sound again.

"Okay, okay…" I continued to back up, and just in time as he suddenly reached out with one arm while supporting himself with the other and took a swing at me. "What are you doing?" I didn't know what to make of this. Now that I was out of reach, Pohatu sat there, supporting himself with his arms, breathing audibly and quickly, and with his teeth still bared. He still hadn't blinked.

"GO!" he repeated, "Go away. Away… hsssss" he trailed off into the hissing thing again, but then lurched forward and hurled up a yellowish, foul liquid; the remains of his late-night drinks. Reflexively, I reached for the pot, but doing so moved me closer to him, and he immediately reached out and whacked me in the side of the head with his hand. I managed to grab the pot, but by the time I was back up and out of reach of his arms the damage had been done; the smell of alcohol filled the room as the sizable volume of liquid began to soak into the carpet, leaving a few solid chunks behind. I almost threw up myself in response, but took a step back again and avoided looking at the floor instead. Pohatu shouted "Go away!" again, his voice getting raspy and his display now enhanced by trails of the liquid and spittle still running out of his mouth. "GO AWAY! GO! GONE!" I honestly didn't know what to make of this; had he gone mad? Was he somehow possessed? If so, by what? For that matter, the amount of noise he was producing was bound to attract unwanted attention soon.

"Stop it!" I shouted back, hoping that perhaps volume would get through to him. It didn't.

"GO AWAY! GO AWAY! BRWASSSS!" he hissed, howled, and shouted as though those two words and that sound were the only thing he was capable of producing. Whatever state of mind it was, clearly I wasn't going to get to him with words… I had to try something else.

Given that I was out of his reach and that movement was… let's say tricky for him, I decided to enter in on his mind again to see if I could calm him from the inside. Standing almost in the doorway, I focused on his head, trying to get passed the savage look on his face that was still leaving me shaken. Soon, those signals were coming into view again, and I noticed it was chaos in there. Lots of red signals among others, but just in general Pohatu's brain seemed to be in some kind of frenzy, making it difficult to discern anything meaningful. I kept trying, blocking the noise out as much as possible, and eventually noticed a particular area that seemed to be sending out a boatload of signals. They were bright ones, loud ones if you will, dominating ones, and they were flooding his brain. This… this had to be it. I didn't know exactly what the consequences would be, but I decided that I had to dampen this somehow. So I put up barriers, trying to surround this… region, to stop the overriding signals from getting out. It was hard, very hard, but slowly I started to see some success. With me blocking as many of the panic signals as I could, things did indeed start to slow down. Momentarily satisfied, I drew back a bit to get an idea of what he was looking like now.

His eyes were still locked on me, but the look of aggression in his face was dropping, changing to one of bewilderment. I could best describe it as a deer-in-the-headlights look, one that signaled panic could still start at any moment, but at least now he was quiet. So, I kept at it, hoping that dropping that panic even further might bring him to reason. It didn't, really. He calmed down, but rather than the return of the Pohatu I knew, I drew back at the end to find it was as though he'd lost interest in me completely and had fallen asleep again, still sitting up. I stood still, watching, and waiting to see if he would wake up, or lie down or do something else, but no, he was shut down again. I was shaking and sweating all over; Pohatu's sudden hostility and my exertions in calming him had left me drained. Still, I laid him back down and put the bedsheets in order, trying to ensure everything visually was just as before. It took a while before I felt comfortable enough to sit down again, though; that image of Pohatu, or rather that Pohatu that wasn't Pohatu, was still at the forefront of my mind, and it was awfully scary… was this what happened when someone truly did lose their mind?

Was this what madness looked like?


	44. Chapter 44

After that display, I didn't dare look into Pohatu's mind again, fearful of waking him up a second time; no telling what kind of state he'd be in if he did. To keep myself occupied, I spent a few minutes with a rag picking up what solid pieces of his dinner were left on the floor, but I couldn't do much about the stain. Then again, the carpet in this bedroom had seen so many liquids spilled onto it that, visually at least, another stain really didn't make much of a difference so long as no one stepped in it for a while. Anxious about Pohatu and with not much else to do, the time still seemed to me to pass very slowly, the clock on the telescreen barely creeping towards 2:30. As it got closer, I started to get worried about whether or not Kopaka'd come back. Not knowing what he was doing was worrisome enough, but the idea that he could've just booked it was never far from my mind, in spite of his reassurances to the contrary and the fact that, logically, he didn't seem to have a reason to leave yet, unless cleaning up this place and watching Pohatu for half the night really had been his goal all along.

I also spent the time keeping a very close eye on Pohatu; though he hadn't stirred since I'd laid him down in the bed again, the thing I'd seen in him when he had woken up kept me on my toes. It was bizarre, like he was a different person altogether, or not a person at all… he couldn't have deteriorated that quickly over just three days, could he? I mean, it'd taken him hundreds of years to get to that point, so three days to go from merely forgetful to beyond himself seemed way too quick; he couldn't be either one all the time. That was a frightening notion: what if, sometimes, he was one and sometimes the other? One misfired signal, one irregularity in his brain, and 'Pohatu' was just turned off, replaced by this, this thing… did his psyche just hang by a thread like that, all the time? I hadn't really believed Pohatu when he'd said that he was so far gone last time, but what I'd seen now made a pretty convincing argument that, in fact, he was in a far worse way than he'd initially appeared. I didn't want to ask the question, but couldn't stop myself from wondering whether or not there really was a way back from that… Pohatu certainly didn't seem to think so, not when we were here last. For that matter, even Hewkii, his long-time admirer, had pretty much given up on him, providing what he needed to live but not making an effort to change his ways anymore. Like Pohatu himself, it was almost, almost like he was just waiting for him to die.

As I pondered whether or not any help could actually save Pohatu in light of what I'd seen, he stirred again. He just rolled his head to a side, but since I was still a bit jumpy, I immediately got up and took a step back. First off, I didn't want him to wake up to see me sitting right next to him, gazing into him as he had the last time, and secondly I didn't fancy being in his reach regardless. He didn't stir again for the next minute or so. I sighed, believing that I'd avoided a second confrontation, then quietly made my way to the living room to see on the telescreen what time it was: 2:33 AM. Kopaka should be back any minute. I looked to the door, almost expecting it to swing open and to find him standing there, but nothing happened. Disappointed in spite of the knowledge that Kopaka arriving exactly when I looked at the door would've been just too much of a coincidence, I went back to the bedroom, and found that, to my shock, Pohatu'd moved again; he'd raised an arm and had placed the hand on the back of his neck.

"Ugh…" he groaned, moving the hand and rubbing his temple. For a second, I stood there, unsure of what exactly I should do; he was clearly waking up, and I didn't know whether he'd… you know, be himself, but I didn't want to just shut him down again if I could help it. So, staying close to the doorway, I waited. He yawned, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the window. He didn't say anything, but the fact that it was still dark out seemed to disappoint him all the same as he rolled his head over to the other side… only to notice me standing in the doorway. His eyes widened immediately, and for a second or two he seemed frozen except for those eyes, trying to focus and look me up and down… I feared that he'd repeat what had happened earlier, but no, there was something different this time. That 'spark' that was missing last time, it was there now, though the expression on Pohatu's face was still one of bewilderment, not to mention fear. But hey, at least it was an expression of some kind.

"Hello," I cautiously greeted him again, not yet taking a step closer. He kept staring at me in utter silence, which was worrying to say the least. However, after a few seconds he finally seemed to find his words.

"It is night…" he said, in a voice barely above a whisper. "Nothing comes at night…"

"No, I was watching over you," I began before realizing that that perhaps wasn't the most placating way to start a conversation.

"Watching?" he questioned.

"Making sure you were alright," I elaborated. "You… you had a rough evening."

"Rough evening…" he repeated, his voice seeming to trail off at every word. Granted, the fact that there were words was comforting, but it was distressingly obvious that there still wasn't much going on behind them.

"You woke up earlier," I attempted to explain, but I wasn't sure how to describe what I saw. "You… you were not feeling so good."

"No, I… I never do," he replied. "Never feel good anymore…" his eyes drifted away from me. "So the time of ghosts begins…"

"Ghosts?" I questioned.

"You, them, ghosts of the past…" Pohatu's eyes drifted further to the point where he was pretty much looking at the ceiling. "Whatever you're going to say, say it… I don't know you, I don't care… not enough for it to hurt anymore."

"No," I began, now realizing that he was mistaking me for one of his broken hallucinations, "I am not a ghost. I'm here, really." His head slowly turned as his eyes fell back on me, his up until now tired and apathetic expression replaced by a much more focused, intense, dare I say 'awake' look.

"They all say that," he said, slightly shaking his head, "and they are all wrong. But they… at least I knew them. You, you I do not. What depths of my mind did you get dragged up from?"

"No, I'm a real person," I argued, "in this bedroom, right now. You're not imagining things."

"YOU'RE A FAKE!" he suddenly exclaimed, "AND I WILL NOT TAKE SHIT FROM YOU!" I stopped, shocked, and for a second or two silence reigned. "I may not know, may not remember much," he continued in a much calmer, but still threatening voice, "but I know no one real comes here, not at this hour, not at any time. Only the phantoms, like you. You haunt me, you offer false hope only to take it away. All that matters is how long you'll be here to torture me this time." He spat on the ground in front of me. "Go ahead; try me, try the one who has nothing left to lose." His tone of voice left no doubt as to his conviction that I was a mere product of his imagination, and one that he was willing to 'wait out,' so to speak. Deciding that arguing that concept was not in my interest, I switched tactics.

"Okay… you got me," I relented. "Maybe I am just that, someone you're imagining." Pohatu sighed and laid back down, his eyes now back on the ceiling. "So, how long do I have, then?" I wondered.

"How long 'till what?" he grumbled.

"'till I vanish again," I explained.

"Hours, I'll bet."

"Hours, wow…" I'd imagined these hallucinations as a more come-and-go thing, but apparently when Pohatu saw them, they were here to stay for a while. I wasn't entirely comfortable pretending to be one of them, but given that Pohatu was lucid, perhaps it'd allow me to ask some of the questions that I'd been meaning to. "So, if I'm from somewhere in your mind," I continued, "who am I?"

"Who?" Pohatu scoffed. "Hell if I know."

"You don't remember me?" I asked.

"No."

"Well, I'm Lis," I introduced myself again, "and we've met before, three nights ago."

"I don't remember thee nights ago," he said dourly. "Even yesterday is another country."

"Well, I wasn't alone," I continued, "and I brought an old friend of yours. Do you remember him?"

"Friend? Ha!" Pohatu suddenly let out a spiteful laugh. "I have no friends. No one'd want to see what's left of me, much less stay around."

"And why is that?" I wondered. Pohatu turned and looked me straight in the eyes again.

"A dying, crippled, bitter drunk," he spat. "Hell, now even my ghosts are complaining about having to show up to mock me?"

"I'm not here to mock you," I protested. "I'm here to help."

"Help…" for a moment, a glimmer of hope crept into Pohatu's face, though not a genuine one… "HA!" he exclaimed. "The damn fool thinks there's something left to save here!"

"Isn't there?" I asked, somewhat surprised at Pohatu's apparent amusement regarding his situation.

"You must be some avatar of naivety," the Toa of Stone mocked. "Try waking up feeling like your legs are on fire even though you can't use them. Try coughing up your lungs on a daily basis. That's what I deal with; never mind the fact that everything else is breaking, too; it's the damned pain lottery over here."

"Lottery?..."

"What's gonna hurt today!?" he exclaimed, looking up and raising his arms to in frustration, or perhaps to feign excitement. Dropping his arms again, he turned back to me: "come morning, I won't remember you were here. Another couple months and, hopefully, I won't be around to remember anything at all. So tell me, Lis… what help could you possibly be?"

"I could help you get proper maintenance, for one," I pointed out. "That could probably give you at least a few more years…"

"YEARS OF WHAT!?" he suddenly exclaimed. "AARGH!" a hand went to his side as, apparently, something inside suddenly snapped.

"Okay, calm down, please," I moved forward, attempting to soothe him. "You're hurting yourself." He looked back up me and gave an almost cruel smile.

"Oh, am I?" he jested. "Well damn it, I hadn't noticed." I stopped, momentarily confused at his sarcastic tone; this still wasn't the real Pohatu, not the one I'd seen and was really hoping to see again. "Stay back!" he warned. "You're wasting your time!"

"You're bitter and angry, I get it," I tried to placate him again, "but please, let me try to fix it."

"NO!" he exclaimed. I was now standing right next to the bed, but stopped short of actually touching him. "There's nothing you can fix here! NOTHING!"

"Fine…" I gave in, realizing that, much as I wanted to help, winding him up was very much accomplishing the opposite. I took the seat by the bedside again instead. "You know, I feel sorry for you," I said. "A hero like you shouldn't be left like this… you deserve better."

"Me? A hero?" he looked confused for a moment, still clutching his side. "I've got nothing but a yellow cup on a shelf. What kind of hero does that make me?"

"You're a Toa," I argued, "and one that saved a universe. You don't remember any of that?"

"Beyond nightmares? Not really," he answered bluntly. "I don't remember seeing you before, and you were here… what, two days ago, you said?"

"Three days."

"Three days…" he scoffed. "Well, regardless of what you say I did, it doesn't change where I am now anyways, does it?" He looked down for a moment, sighed, then turned his attention to me again. "My body's breaking down, I'm in constant pain, and now the range of ghosts that visit me on a nightly basis apparently includes you, the condescending one. That's what I know," he pointed at himself, "and as far as I'm concerned the end can't come soon enough."

"So I heard last time," I recalled, "but the Pohatu I met then was a lot less… bitter about everything. What changed?"

"My so-called friend wouldn't help," the Toa of Stone nodded towards something past me. "Isn't that right!?" he raised his voice.

"Wait, what…" I turned and was staggered to find Kopaka standing in the bedroom doorway. Before I got a chance to greet him, Pohatu launched into a virtual tirade.

"He wouldn't do shit!" he called out. "Nothing at all! Wouldn't even consider it!"

"Brother, please," Kopaka began in a decidedly dismal tone.

"Don't you brother me!" Pohatu continued. "I had but one wish left in this world, but one! And you, you… bastard! He wouldn't even consider it because of that stupid title! Toa! Who gives a shit about Toa anymore!?" Kopaka stepped forward into the room, but didn't interrupt Pohatu again. "All I want is to get out of this pain and misery," the latter continued. "I have nothing left! NOTHING!"

"Brother, you have to calm down," Kopaka said, now more sternly, as he stopped beside me. It wasn't enough to slow Pohatu down.

"You've haunted me, haunted me for I don't know long," he continued, "making sure that you were the only one I remembered, the only one I could ask for. I was stupid enough to believe you, to believe that he'd be willing to help, to do anything at all… but you tricked me! All those years, making me think that he'd actually care about anyone but himself! Damn you, and damn him! GET LOST!"

"Brother, enough!" Kopaka scolded. "I am not some figment of your imagination. I am the real Kopaka, and I am back."

"Like hell you are," Pohatu spat. "You played your game, told your lies… and I will never believe you again."

"No, seriously, we're both here," I attempted to join in the argument. "Real people, not ghosts." I gestured back and forth between myself and Kopaka. "Just like I was trying to tell you earlier."

"No," Pohatu shook his head. "No one comes here, no one real." Without another word, he rolled right and lay down facing away from us, refusing to continue the argument. I looked to Kopaka, who seemed momentarily at a loss for words due to either frustration or hopelessness, I imagined. Eventually, he turned around and headed for the living room, stopping for a moment to gesture for me to follow, which I did. He led me into the kitchen, which was about as much out of earshot as it was possible to get from the bedroom, even though the two rooms were right next to each other.

"I told you to watch him," he began in a hushed tone, "not to wake him."

"I'm sorry," I apologized, "but he kinda did that on his own. Twice."

"Twice?"

"The first time, he was… not himself," I explained. "More like… like an aggressive rahi."

"A rahi?"

"It was scary," I recalled. "He didn't recognize me, didn't recognize anything… He just screamed "go away" over and over. I had to force him back to sleep to calm him down."

"You forced him back to sleep?" Kopaka questioned.

"Psionics," I answered. Kopaka's expression momentarily showed disapproval, but then quickly returned to its neutral state.

"You had to," he said.

"Look, I was worried about him before, but based on what I saw it's a lot worse than we thought," I continued. "Who knows how often something misfires that leads him to behave like that? We might be insanely lucky that he didn't do it last time, and that he's not doing it now."

"Indeed, he is not doing it now," Kopaka confirmed as he turned and made his way back to the bedroom again with much more determination in his step than when he'd left it. I followed right behind, curious as to how that determination would manifest itself. I didn't have to wait long. In fact, I didn't have to wait at all.

"Enough, Brother," Kopaka announced as he marched right up to the bed. Without warning, he reached over it and grabbed Pohatu's shoulder, then pulled it, forcing him over to face us.

"Hey, what the hell!?" the Toa of Stone exclaimed.

"Can your ghosts do this?" Kopaka questioned as he gestured with his other hand to the shoulder he was maintaining a firm grip on.

"Get off of me!" Pohatu protested. He tried to push the Toa of Ice's hand off of his shoulder, but to little avail as Kopaka immediately reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"I have no time for nonsense, brother," he explained as he pulled Pohatu's hand over and placed it against his mask. "Do I seem real yet?" he questioned.

"GET LOST!" Pohatu exclaimed in return, but there was little he could do. Though I'd been momentarily stumped by Kopaka's suddenly rather aggressive approach, I quickly came to my senses.

"Hey, let him go!" I moved in, unsure of how exactly to get Kopaka to comply. "This can't be good for him."

"I am real, brother, I am here!" The Toa of Ice remained focused on Pohatu. "You know that it is me. You know!" Completely flustered, Pohatu didn't reply; for a few seconds, tense silence fell over the room. Neither of the two Toa Nuva moved a muscle, their eyes locked as though they were in a contest of wills, while I stood by praying that Pohatu would come to his senses before Kopaka decided to take even more radical measures to prove that he wasn't the ghost Pohatu believed him to be.

"Why…" Pohatu shook his head, "why would he come back… and yet you seem… real."

"I am," Kopaka confirmed, sounding encouraged. "I am him."

"He… you left for good," Pohatu remembered. His hand began to shake a little. Kopaka relaxed his grip. "You said farewell again; you'd never return."

"That I did," Kopaka confirmed again as he let go of Pohatu's shoulder and wrist altogether and stood back up. "And that was my intention."

"Then why?" Pohatu questioned. Kopaka didn't immediately reply, so he continued: "what could possibly have brought you back here? You were done; we were done."

"I…" Kopaka began, getting uncharacteristically hung up on the words. He cleared his throat, then tried again: "I-I changed my mind."

The moment he said that, I finally realized what he was going to do. This whole trip back, his hesitation, the bizarre secrecy… he was thinking about Pohatu's request, thinking about actually doing it. My heart sank. That request was against everything he'd told me, about the Toa code, about duty, about… himself.

"Changed your mind about what?" Pohatu wondered, not yet catching on.

"About what you asked of me," Kopaka answered. "I have seen several things since that night, things that… put your request into perspective."

"What request…" Pohatu seemed to come to the realization right on the word 'request.' "Oh, that one." His voice fell as his eyes widened.

"Hang on, you're not… you can't…" I attempted to interrupt, but Kopaka immediately turned and glared at me with a look on his face that I'd only seen when he was about to launch into one of his tirades. For that moment, it stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Lis, stay back," he ordered. "This is a matter between me and him; do not interfere."

"B-But you said yourself that it would violate the Toa Code," I hesitantly argued. "You can't, you wouldn't… at least explain yourself!" Kopaka sighed, lowered his head, then turned his attention to Pohatu again.

"You asked me when I was here last whether anyone actually cared about the Toa these days," he explained. "The answer appears to be no. This world does not need Toa anymore, and even our brothers and sister willfully abandoned the code." He glanced back at me for a moment, then back at Pohatu, cleared his throat again, and continued: "I have held myself to its standards to the best of my ability, but if the title has become so meaningless, then I… I will abandon it for you. If that offer is still on the table, I will kill you."


	45. Chapter 45

"You… You'll do it?" Pohatu asked. "You'll actually do it?" He clearly still didn't believe it, and in that he wasn't alone.

"Yes…" Kopaka answered. His voice had lost its usual authority, its power… he was wavering. "Yes, if I must… I will."

"No, you won't," I stepped in. "You can't!"

"Lis…" he began, but I wasn't having it.

"No, you're not just going to do this," I continued, "not like this. You're hesitating for a reason; you know it's wrong. Don't tell me that you're doing this just because you've lost faith in the worth of the Toa Code. That's not you. That's not the Kopaka I know!"

"It is not about me, Lis," he argued, avoiding eye contact.

"Since when!?" I exclaimed in disbelief. "Since when is it not about you? You said you were giving up the title! What else could it be about? Duty again? Your duty to the Matoran? Yeah right. This isn't for the good of them, and it won't do anything for you either, except you won't be a Toa anymore! It doesn't make sense!"

"That is because you do not know everything," he replied, a hint of agitation creeping back into his voice.

"Then explain," I demanded. "Explain to me why you're really doing this, why you're disgracing yourself and him! 'cause right now, you can't even look me in the eyes. You know this isn't right!" He didn't reply; his eyes remained fixed on the floor, but I could tell he was thinking, trying to come up with something to shut me up. "See!? You can't just rationalize your way out of this one!" I drove the point home.

"Hey, he said he would do it," Pohatu interrupted, "and he asked you to stay out of it. How about you go do that instead?"

"I won't," I turned to him, "because I know there's a better option. You've given up, maybe, but I won't let you take him, or yourself. With three Toa here, that can't happen. There's a lot more we can do for you that you just haven't stopped to consider because you think death is your only way out."

"Don't tell me what I do or do not know!" Pohatu suddenly shouted back. "You don't know how it feels to have the lights go out on you one by one!"

"No, but I know what it looks like," I countered, "and ■■■■ it, I know he won't stay, but I will do whatever I can to help. You're wrong, Pohatu; there is something here I can fix, and even if there wasn't we have to at least try!"

"You'd be wasting your time," he shot back, "and you can't fix this! You haven't even seen the half of what is hurt, broken, or gone!"

"Maybe I haven't," I admitted, "but just because you don't believe you can be helped doesn't mean you shouldn't let people try." Pohatu seemed about to shout something back, but then paused for a moment instead. He had to be considering something; was I finally getting through to him?

"Look, I realize you're trying to help," he finally sighed, "but don't waste your energy on me. I don't want to be your waste of time, nor anyone else's, and I can't bear the feeling of my body giving out any longer."

"Well, I can help with that, too," I pointed out. "And you won't be a waste of time; if anything, you'll give me something to do… something I'd be happy to do." Again, he paused for thought. I watched, waited, hoping that I'd changed his mind. I mean, I was willing to follow up on the promise, too; whether Kopaka was willing to stay or not (I suspected not), I was willing to be caretaker for Pohatu, to try and bring him back from this death spiral he was in. In particular, I remembered Nuparu talking about his regret in the wake of Onua's death; he had all but given up on his friend for a while, too, and had potentially lost him for it. I was determined not to make the same mistake.

"No," Pohatu spoke up.

"No?..." I was momentarily taken aback. What else could I offer him at this point?

"I am sorry," he continued, changing his tone, "but I have made my decision. I do not want to stick around until there's nothing left of me, and regardless of what you do that will be soon."

"No, it won't be," I tried again. "It can't be; you're still fully aware and lucid now; the same was true when we were last here."

"You have seen worse," Kopaka pointed out.

"You have?" Pohatu looked up at his brother. "W-what did I do this time?"

"You were well below lucid not too long ago…" Kopaka began.

"That's not the point," I interrupted. "The point is that you're not like that all the time, and I really do think I can help. Just… let me try."

"Lis, he said he has made his decision," Kopaka reminded me. "Leave it be."

"No, I can't!" I turned back to him. "This isn't right, and you know it! You don't have to give up everything you cared for, and he could live! That would be right, wouldn't it!?"

"Yes, it would be," he admitted.

"Then why?" I looked back to Pohatu. "You don't have to die yet, and you don't have to suffer either!"

"Because that would not be possible," Kopaka said dourly.

"Of course it would be!" I argued. "I just explained how!"

"You are assuming his condition is curable," Kopaka continued, "or at least manageable. I can tell you right now that it is not."

"And how do you know?" I wondered. Kopaka merely nodded in Pohatu's direction, so I looked to him, expecting some kind of follow-up. But Pohatu offered none; his eyes were oddly fixed on Kopaka. Again, silence fell over the room… I waited for an answer, an explanation, anything from either Toa, but neither offered any, so I spoke up again. "Look, I've seen one Toa die because he couldn't, he wouldn't accept help," I pleaded with both of them, "and I will not let it happen again. I just can't. It's not right." Silence ruled the room again. Kopaka looked to Pohatu, then cast his eyes to the floor when the Toa of Stone switched to looking back and forth between me and him. I was hoping, praying… was I getting through to them at last?

"Sorry," Pohatu eventually spoke up, "but… who are you?" I was shocked. We'd just been talking; how had he already forgotten who I was? Kopaka, too, looked back up to his brother, whose expression was now one of bewilderment. "The ghosts… the ghosts are back…" The Toa of Stone's face turned pale as the realization came over him.

"No, we are not ghosts," Kopaka immediately responded. "Stay with me, brother; we are not ghosts. You were talking to us just a minute ago."

"Talking… talking with you?" Pohatu's voice was taking on more than a hint of panic. "About what… what do you want from me!?"

"Nothing, brother, nothing," Kopaka assured him. "We mean you no harm. I am Kopaka. Do you remember me?"

"Kopaka…" Pohatu mused, but then seemed to remember something. "Kopaka… wait! You, you were gone…"

"Yes, and I am back now," Kopaka led him on, though his voice betrayed exasperation. He leant in and placed a hand on Pohatu's shoulder again. "We were talking earlier; do you remember what about?" Pohatu just… looked at him, blankly.

"Come on," I encouraged, worried that somehow we'd lost him almost completely, "you have to remember something. Please."

"Lis…" Kopaka said my name in that same, almost threatening tone again. It alone was tantamount to "shut up."

"Lis… Kopaka…" Pohatu looked back and forth between us again. "D-do I know you?"

"No," I said, barely above a whisper, more to myself than to anyone else. "No, it's not like that. He can't be gone just like that…" Kopaka sighed, then turned away from the bewildered Pohatu and towards me again.

"He is gone just like that," he said, emphasizing the word "is." I merely nodded 'no' in disbelief. The whole argument, the Pohatu I knew, the Pohatu I'd just had a conversation with, seemingly vanished in an instant. The very thing that I feared could happen after the first time he'd woken up had just taken place right in front of me; something must've misfired, or run into a broken pathway, or something... The thread had snapped, his mind gone blank, or at least his short-term memory was in pieces.

"You're really here," Pohatu murmured, looking towards Kopaka. "But… nothing real comes here… nothing."

"No, brother, I am here," Kopaka corrected. "I am here, I came back for you, remember? I have told you this before, not long ago. I came back for you."

"There was… there was a thing," Pohatu kept trying to piece things together.

"Yes, you had a request for me," Kopaka encouraged before I could stop him.

"Right, and you… you… you wouldn't do it!" Pohatu suddenly turned aggressive. "I want it to end, I want to be done, and you wouldn't do it!"

"No, brother," the Toa of Ice said. "I will do it." And there my heart sank again. Here, presented with a chance to take back a wrong decision, Kopaka'd instead re-affirmed it. In fact, he sounded more sure and certain that he'd done the last time… had the whole argument merely convinced him to go on with this, or was it Pohatu's sudden blank-out that had pushed him over the edge?

"What are you doing?" I leant in and asked. Kopaka saying "I will do it" had once again stunned and silenced Pohatu for a moment in spite of his anger, and so the Toa of Ice immediately turned to me.

"Lis, stay out of it," he demanded.

"I already told you, I can't," I replied. "This isn't right!"

"No, it is not," he agreed, "but you cannot fix everything…" he glanced back at the bewildered Pohatu, "and you cannot fix this."

"He won't even let me try," I countered, "and now you're not going to either?"

"You made your case," Kopaka replied, still keeping his voice down but not free from frustration, "and he answered when he was as lucid as he could be in his current condition. Now the choice lies with you: will you drag this on needlessly, or will you respect his last wish and let me do what needs to be done?" That wasn't a choice I wanted to make; for a second or two, I couldn't think of any answer to it, or at least nothing satisfactory.

"I-I can't let you do that," I finally said. "Even if he is that far gone… even if it really is nothing but mercy… why do you have to do it? Why abandon everything you told me? Why you?"

"Lis, I promise you that I will explain," he answered, now if anything with more of a calm sincerity to his voice, "after this is done, but only afterwards."

"You'll… do it?" the still staggered Pohatu asked Kopaka. "You'll… actually do it?" The Toa of Ice nodded for a moment in his direction, then stood up and looked back at me. His expression had shifted slightly, indicating that I had to make a choice now. My eyes were welling up with tears; I was torn. None of this was right, it couldn't be. This wasn't how it was supposed to end; it couldn't have been what Kopaka'd been planning all along, not the Kopaka I knew. And yet here I was, facing the choice between letting him abandon the Toa code in what he saw as a mercy killing, and potentially taking responsibility for Pohatu and trying to nurse him back to something resembling health… if that was even possible, and against his will. Somehow, both choices now seemed like mistakes, though I still felt one was significantly worse than the other. There had to be a better way, something else we could do… and yet I couldn't think of it.

Then again, looking back at Pohatu, who was once again going through the same revelations that he'd gone through not ten minutes before as though they were entirely new to him… was he right? When he'd asked Kopaka to kill him the first time around, he described his as a "shell of a life," and never had that description seemed more appropriate than it did now. Never mind that he'd been all but an animal when he'd woken up the first time; this… these mind blanks, he had to be acutely aware of them somehow. He knew there were a lot of memories missing. I couldn't even imagine what it was like for information to suddenly be gone like that… and what if Kopaka was right? What if, even with me doing everything that I could, there was nothing that could be done to stave off the rapid decay of Pohatu's mental faculties? How long before there really was nothing left to save?... No! I couldn't think of it on those terms! While there was something to save, I had to fight for it… but it was against his express wishes, even if we'd have to bring him up to speed before he could articulate them again. And if Kopaka had good reasons of his own to actually go through with this… was this terrible option really the best one open to us? I hated it, but the more I thought of it, the more I came to the conclusion that yes, sadly, it was…

"Y-You're taking a life," I relented after a long pause. "You understand that, right? You're… you'd better have one hell of an explanation."

"I do, Lis" Kopaka assured me. "I have had this whole trip to work on it."

"You'll actually do it… you're actually going to do it…" the reality was sinking in on Pohatu just as it was on me; outside of resorting to violence, I felt I was out of options… and violence wasn't one to begin with.

"Go, Lis," Kopaka advised. "Get out of the room, step outside, wherever you need to be. You do not have to watch this."

"No, I never had to," I replied, trying to keep my composure as best I could. My eyes drifted over and landed back on Pohatu. "I'm sorry. So… so sorry," I apologized. He looked back me with an expression that had a sense of knowing innocence about it... like an old pet about to be put down. He understood, aperhaps only vaguely at that point, what I was trying to do, but he also clearly felt that what was about to happen was necessary. Terrible as it was, it was what he wanted… In an unusual gesture, Kopaka placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Go on, Lis," he advised. We exchanged one last look before he gently turned me and then gave me a slight push in the direction of the door. I kept going… left the bedroom, took another step or two forward, then stopped in the middle of the living room. Tears were rolling down my mask, my throat had closed up, and I felt weak at the knees. In my head, I was still struggling, wanting to jump back in there and intervene, to stop this madness… but what could I say that I hadn't already said? When, even in the best of states, Pohatu was still so far gone that he could forget who he was talking to at any moment, what could I really do? Still, how could I justify not going back? My vision was going blurry with the tears, but my ears still worked fine, and in the otherwise complete silence of the night, I could still hear what was happening in the bedroom.

"I am sorry too, brother." Kopaka's voice had taken on a slight tremble as well. "Sorry that everything has come to this."

"No, don't be." Pohatu sounded, if anything, apologetic. "I should be thanking you. This… this is all I've been waiting for. Thank you!" Some creaking of the mattress, movement of the bedsheets… I turned and took a momentary glance into the room: Pohatu'd raised himself up, reached out, and embraced Kopaka… exactly as he had done the last time they'd said goodbye on good terms, at the end of the last meeting of all the Toa Nuva. Immediately, that memory came back to me, accompanied by that same feeling of loss… I steadied myself against the doorframe, but couldn't keep myself from watching from the shadows of the living room.

"I swear," Pohatu said, "I swear that if I'd known… if I'd known that it'd come to this, I'd never have done whatever I did… n-never let it get to this."

"I know," Kopaka replied, clearly still trying to maintain some semblance of composure. "That is enough," he said as he released his grip. "Is there anything else you need to do?"

"No…" Pohatu replied as he let go as well. "I… I have nothing left in this world. Nothing but pain..." He looked down for a moment, probably trying to think of something else. "Actually," he realized, "there's this one guy… a yellow guy… he comes by sometimes…"

"Hewkii," Kopaka identified.

"Yes, him," Pohatu continued. "W-was he real, too?"

"He was."

"Please, tell him… no, thank him for me," Pohatu requested. "Whoever he is, he'd bring food and all… I don't know why, but he did."

"I will," Kopaka promised.

"Good…" Pohatu sighed, a slight smile appearing on his face even as, just like Kopaka's and mine, his eyes were tearing up. Kopaka, meanwhile, reached behind his back and pulled out one of his blades. It shimmered slightly in the dim light of the lamp on the side table; I'd delivered the same weapon to him the night before. Now, I nearly choked at the sight of it. "Thank you..." Pohatu leant back against the wall on the head side of the bed, remaining in a half-seated position with his back supported by the pillow. "I am ready," he said, sounding almost relieved.

"I will be quick, brother…" Kopaka promised as he bent over and placed a hand on Pohatu's shoulder, "and I will make sure… I will make sure that you will be well remembered. Just like Onua, just like Lewa, like all of us… the Matoran will know who you were, who you really were; the Toa who helped create this world." It was clear, even back from where I was standing, that by now he was making great effort to retain his composure; apart from teared-up eyes and a clear break in his voice, there were few clues of how difficult the task really was, but even his movements, in spite of being as calculated and precise as always, seemed just a little rigid and forced. As for me, I was standing frozen, conflicted, as though I was watching disaster in slow-motion. One side of me so desperately wanted still to run in there and stop this, but the other was keeping me back, trying and somehow succeeding at making me come to terms with this… it was so wrong, and yet, in light of everything I'd seen, perhaps it was mercy after all.

"That… that's all I can ask," Pohatu smiled and closed his eyes as Kopaka placed the tip of the blade against his chest, right below the heartlight. The Toa of Ice straightened out slightly, still with one hand firmly on his brother's shoulder and the other on the hilt of the blade. I wanted to scream, to run in and stop this, or maybe even to drive the blade in myself, to make it end... Everything at once, and instead I stood, paralyzed, unwilling to watch yet unable to look away. Kopaka looked down and averted his eyes for a moment; I swear that, as he did, he saw me standing in the doorway, and even cast a tearful glance in my direction. But then, his expression suddenly hardened, his grip tightened, he looked back to Pohatu… and in one smooth, linear motion, he thrust the blade forwards and upwards, into the Toa of Stone's chest. It went in with hardly a sound, penetrating through muscle strands, the underlying mesh, and right past the heart pump. Pohatu grimaced briefly at the jolt of pain that must have resulted, but then his face relaxed again and that slight smile reappeared. "Thank you, brother…" he whispered. "Thank you…"

Blood appeared around the entry point of the blade, and Toa's heartlight started beeping like crazy, but then, just for a split second, Kopaka pulled tight all the muscles in his right arm, the one whose hand was holding the blade. Almost instantaneously, a thick layer of condensed snow appeared on the weapon; Kopaka'd dropped its temperature to well below zero, channeling the power of ice as cold cauterization. Surely, it must have frozen everything inside Pohatu's chest solid; the heartlight stopped beating immediately, as instantaneous a way to go as I could imagine. The body of the Toa of Stone went limp, his face a picture of serene bliss, the face of one finally released from years of physical and mental pain and torment. The hero, the Toa Nuva of Stone, looking like he had at last found peace… at the blade of his best friend. Kopaka held the position for seconds that seemed like ages, then slowly, carefully, drew back the blade. It left an extremely thin cut, and no blood followed it out, not anymore. He straightened out, and for a while just… stood there, motionless with tears running down his mask, looking down upon his only friend, now forever silenced. It was over; I staggered back into the living room from the shadow of the doorway, leant against and slid down the wall, ending up huddled over with my head in folded arms on my knees, crying all the same.


	46. Chapter 46

I'm not sure how long I sat there, to be honest... being near-catatonic for a while tends to do that to one's perception of time. Through Kopaka's memories, I felt like I'd gotten to know Pohatu as a friend, and while seeing the death of Onua and that time that Kopaka'd thought Pohatu dead had both hit me hard, actually being present at the death of a Toa and friend was something else entirely, especially in how it had transpired. It still didn't feel right to me. Pohatu's condition only made it more tragic; it added an edge of anger to the grief, anger at world that had abandoned him, allowed him to drive himself to such depths over hundreds of years. Really, Hewkii was the only person who'd visited him over that time, so far as I knew. Through it all, Pohatu'd been hurting, physically and emotionally… like Gali, like Onua, and probably like Lewa, increasingly lonely in his downward spiral, drowning it all in liquor bottle after liquor bottle until death seemed more a merciful release than anything else. No one deserved to go like that, least of all this Toa… and yet this alleged paradise had let it happen.

Eventually, Kopaka stepped out of the room, stopping right outside the doorway. "Lis," he began in a quiet, but controlled voice, "get up." Looking up, I noticed he was holding himself in that tall, stoic manner that I'd become so used to, but as he looked down on me it was obvious from his face that he'd shed a lot of tears, too. No doubt he was making an effort not to show too much of the pain still inside. I stood up and wiped some of the tears out of my eyes. "We need to get going," Kopaka added.

"What? Already?" I wondered.

"We are running out of time," he explained as he walked around me towards the front door.

"Hang on," I said, to keep my voice down as well for some reason, "you said you had an explanation… for that." I gestured towards the bedroom.

"I do," he replied, "and I will tell you, but not now. Later." I sighed, then followed. Passing by the open doorway, I looked into the bedroom. Kopaka'd laid Pohatu down face-up and straightened out the sheets; it looked like the Toa of Stone was merely sleeping comfortably. I stopped for a moment, not wanting to leave, not wanting him to be gone, as though he wouldn't be truly gone until we left his place behind. Lying peacefully in that bed, with everything in the room cleaned and arranged… it was as though Kopaka'd tried to symbolically set everything straight, even though the friend he'd come back to was irreparably broken. Tears were welling up in my eyes again. "Lis, we need to go," Kopaka reminded me as he waited by the front door. He'd put on the cloak that he'd left there when he'd returned from… whatever he'd been doing earlier.

"Right," I nodded, then then took one last glance into the bedroom. "Rest in peace…" I whispered sadly, then slowly turned and headed for the door. Kopaka followed me out, closed the door behind him, then looked up at the sky. The night was clear, but colder now.

"A new star has joined them tonight," he said, sounding unusually philosophical. I glanced over at him, wondering if he was going to point out which one, but he didn't follow up on it. Looking up, I saw a sky full of stars… then again, if he had been doing lots of astronomy, I suppose Kopaka would've been the one to know which one was the new one. Apparently satisfied at the condition of the sky, he started heading back in the direction from which we'd come, back to the city center. The streets were utterly quiet, which wasn't surprising given that sunrise was probably still hours away. Still, he pretty quickly turned left into one of the side alleys, making his way through the narrow, maze-like streets at a fairly quick pace. At first, I just thought he was worried about being spotted in spite of the hour, but after a while I started to realize that he was heading in a very different direction; north-west as opposed to north-east. I didn't really bother to question it at first, but after a good fifteen minutes or so of wondering where we were heading, I couldn't wait any longer.

"So, where are we going now?" I asked just as we'd reached what appeared to be the side of a larger street. Kopaka didn't reply in voice; he just turned and pointed out a well-lit signpost not fifty feet away from us.

 _Station East_

"The underground line?" I thought out loud. Next to the sign, a set of stairs offered a path down. Kopaka took it, I followed, and soon we found ourselves standing in front of the ticket window of the underground station, which was being manned by a Po-Matoran who'd fallen asleep on the job. Kopaka tapped the glass, quietly at first, then louder the second time, which woke up the Matoran.

"Huh?" he mumbled drowsily, but when his eyes fell upon the Toa and cloaked stranger in front of him, he quickly reasserted himself. "G-good evening," he greeted. "What can I help you with today?"

"Seaside Station, two tickets," Kopaka said in his raspy voice.

"One-way or return?" Po-Matoran inquired as he turned to the rack of ticket rolls on his left.

"One-way," Kopaka answered as he pulled out some widgets and laid them on the counter.

"Right," the Po-Matoran ripped two tickets off of one of the rolls, "that'll be four widgets…" his voice trailed off as, turning back to us, he noticed Kopaka'd put exactly that number down on the counter already. "Okay, seems we're good then," the Matoran confirmed as he offered the tickets to Kopaka, who took them without ceremony and headed into the station proper.

"Thank you," I said to the Matoran before following. Station West was no cleaner than when last we'd been here; puddles of water or possibly other liquids dotted the floor, the lights flickered, and the trash cans were overflowing. There wasn't a train present, but a clock and schedule posted informed us that there would be one arriving within five minutes. Kopaka elected to wait standing up, while I took a moment to admire the painting of the Glatorian on the wall; it was clearly street art of some kind, probably illegal, but whoever'd done it had done a good job on the detail. In fact, perhaps a little too good… the Glatorian in question was Kiina, a female from the water tribe who wielded a trident and whose armor, at least in this display, didn't leave much to the imagination. If anything, being drawn from behind and looking slyly over her shoulder, she looked more like one of those 'dolls' that Kopaka'd compared Hahli to than a fighter, and with ineffective armor like that I could see to some extent where the insult came from; this was the kind of thing that Kirall was shooting for with her 'enhancements.' Painted in large, black letters beside the painting were the words "Real Glatorian Hero," accompanied by a more crudely written "Agori Rule!" in red. I suppose that, from what little I knew of her, the hero part was an accurate description of Kiina, though I couldn't help but wonder what the notoriously short-tempered Glatorian thought of this display.

Turning around, I noticed Kopaka was standing with his arms crossed and that his mind was sending out 'anger' signals so loudly that I was detecting them without even trying. Then I noticed why: painted on the tunnel wall on the other side of the train track, in just as much detail, was a picture of a grotesquely obese Gali in the same pose and similar attire as Kiina in hers. The look on Gali's face, however, was one of 'caught red-handed' embarrassment as opposed to Kiina's confident, challenging expression, and instead of wielding her axes her hands were occupied by a very large and already half-eaten sandwich. The original artist had labeled the picture "Real Toa Hero," while whoever'd shown up with the red paint had practically surrounded the work with words and phrases like "Matoran suck!", "Activate Kraawa Power!", and "Toa of Blubber."

"By Mata Nui…" I thought out loud. "Poor Gali."

"Damned Agori," Kopaka seethed.

"At least you can't see it when the train arrives…" I muttered, somewhat worried about how mad Kopaka clearly was. He really did care in matters concerning Gali… but this clearly wasn't a good time to go pointing that out. He was probably right, though; given the… let's say unfavorable way the Toa was depicted, it was probably some cheeky Agori who'd put these pictures up, and with it Gali's condition was clearly public knowledge. I wondered whether the same was true of Pohatu… was there a picture comparing the crippled Toa of Stone to a Rock Tribe Skrall somewhere? Thankfully, the awkward moment and sight were cut off by the arrival of the train. No one got off, and once again we were the only ones on board besides the driver. Kopaka took one of the seats in the far back, I guess more by force of habit than anything else, and I took the one across from him. Shortly thereafter, we rolled out of the station, the picture of Gali passing behind Kopaka's back. After we were out of sight of the station, I spoke up:

"So, why did you?" I asked.

"Duty," he answered.

"Okay, go on…" I was really looking forward to this explanation. How did killing another Toa fall under his duty?

"In Onu-Koro-Nuva there a giant statue of Onua," he began. "He is all but worshipped by the Onu-Matoran."

"I know," I informed him. "I've seen it. They've got lots of signs by it explaining what he did."

"Do any of them mention how he died?" Kopaka wondered.

"They mention he died with his boots on, so to speak," I remembered.

"Do they tell how he died?" Kopaka reiterated himself.

"Well, they don't mention the crystals…" I figured that that was what he was getting at.

"Indeed they do not," Kopaka confirmed, "and why do you think that is?"

"Uhm… well, Nuparu told me that, you know… it would sour his memory," I recalled. "We talked about that, remember? You told me Nuparu left the crystals out of the official history because it would taint the image of Onua as someone for the Matoran to admire and live up to."

"Exactly," Kopaka nodded. "He was doing his duty by providing for the Matoran the best image of Onua that they could have. My brother went from being the living champion of the Onu-Matoran to their patron legend. They try to live their lives as he did; even in death, he still provides them with a moral standard to strive for, to be the best they can be. That is how he still serves the Matoran, as a legend, and Nuparu could not risk that legend being tarnished."

"Oh, okay. Is that what you're trying to do for Pohatu now?" I was catching on.

"Exactly," Kopaka nodded again. "So long as Pohatu lived, there would never be a remembrance ceremony on the scale that Onua had, no statue to cement him in the consciousness of the Matoran forever. In his condition, he had nothing left to give them in life… but in death, he could become a standard on par with Onua for the Onu-Matoran, or Lewa for the Le-Matoran."

"…or you for the Ko-Matoran," I added. "I mean, you've got a statue too, right?"

"I do." Kopaka looked down for a moment, sighed, then looked up at me again. "Remember when we first met?"

"The train trip from Ko-Koro-Nuva?" I remembered that night. It was only a week or so ago, but with everything I'd seen, it felt like a lot longer than that.

"You asked me why I did not want to announce to the Ko-Matoran that I am back," Kopaka continued. "This is why; they benefit more from my memory than they would from my presence."

"Oh, right…" I nodded. In some ways, what he said made sense, though I still felt his habitual drive for isolation contributed a lot more to that decision than he was willing to admit. There was also something else about his decision concerning Pohatu: it flew in the face of the Toa Code. "I guess that all works," I spoke up again, "but you still broke the Toa Code."

"That is correct," Kopaka admitted, his voice noticeably dropping off. "I… I am no longer a Toa." He sighed as his eyes drifted down to the floor. It didn't take an empath to recognize that, to him, it was a profound loss.

"Well, physically…" I gestured at him 'head-to-toe' in a rather misguided attempt to make light of the situation, but I'd barely gotten those two words out before his eyes were suddenly glaring back up at me.

"Physically, your friends are Toa," he sneered. "Do you believe they really live up to the title?"

"No, no they don't…" I realized. "Well, Jahlpu maybe… but not Lerome and Kirall."

"They live off of the pockets of well-meaning Matoran and Agori without, as you put it, having done anything to deserve it," Kopaka continued. "Yes, your Toa of Earth does better, but then he has a good role model, does he not?"

"Onua, right…" everything circled around again; if Jahlpu ever learned how Onua really died, I suspected he'd be heartbroken. The same with Lerome and Lewa, for that matter. Kopaka sighed again.

"It came down to a choice between Duty and the Toa Code. Duty because Pohatu would serve the Matoran better dead, while the Toa Code required keeping him alive." When he put it like that, I could see the conundrum… small wonder he'd been going back and forth with himself and refusing to answer my questions on the trip back; he'd been trying to decide between the two leading guiding principles of his life. "I chose Duty," Kopaka concluded.

"Unity, Duty, Destiny…" I mumbled, more thinking out loud than actually trying to carry on the conversation. Nevertheless, Kopaka responded.

"They are the overarching principles," he said fatefully, "the ones which guide us all, first and foremost. The Toa Code only applies to Toa, and as you have seen, that title carries little meaning now." There was a genuine sadness to his voice when he described the state of the title 'Toa.'

"Wow… it's like two Toa died," I observed. "One… well, one physically, and one spiritually."

"You could put it like that," Kopaka said mournfully.

"I'm sorry," I apologized; that remark had perhaps been just a little insensitive. "Really, I am… Honestly, you're still a Toa as far as I'm concerned." He nodded, a small gesture that he appreciated the sentiment.

"By your definition, perhaps," he noted, "but not officially. Officially, there are no Toa Nuva left."

"Well, officially my teammates are Toa," I reminded him. "Screw the official definition."

By this point, we were closing in on the first of two stations along our way to Seaside Station, which I figured was why Kopaka didn't take the conversation any further, though to be honest he didn't seem to have much appetite for it either way. The title of Toa, arbitrary as it seemed to be treated now, had clearly still meant a lot to him, symbolic of what he'd always strived to be. It was exactly as Nuparu had told me; Kopaka, like all the other Toa Nuva, had this vision of the ideal hero in his head, the person who he wanted to be, and the Toa Code had always been a core part of that, right below the three virtues themselves... and even if that independent, righteous, lone warrior vision was at least in part spurred on by the most unsavory parts of his personality and would probably end up being the death of him, he'd lasted longer on it than any of the other Toa Nuva; Tahu had broken the code early on, effectively making the same choice Kopaka'd made if in vastly different circumstances and for far worse reasons, and as those enterprising subterranean Agori satirists had been keen to point out, Gali was in no condition to protect and serve the Matoran in any capacity. In reality, Kopaka'd left a sizeable piece of himself behind in that wretched hut in southwest New Atero, regardless of how little it meant to others.

The station came and went; the train stopped, but no one boarded, and so we were on our way again. Kopaka had, by now, reasserted control over himself to the point where, if he'd wanted to, I didn't doubt that he could act as though nothing of significance had happened. Beneath the surface, though, that definitely wasn't true; his apparent calm was more a reflection of millennia of training and appearance management than what he was really feeling. Granted, that wasn't exactly news to me of all people. For my part, I was still having difficulties dealing with it as well, of course. Talking had helped some; tragic as it was, Pohatu's death did have rhyme and reason behind it, now that Kopaka had explained it. Still, even a darn good explanation didn't change the fact that the whole thing was a terrible business; it was clearer than ever that, in this world, all the Toa Nuva had eventually met with disappointment or outright disaster; peacetime really had no place for war heroes, and this world not much for Toa in general. That wasn't an encouraging message for a new Toa like me, though Nuparu had offered a solid alternative and I now had something lined up to pursue in Hahli and Jaller's planned expedition. Still, at this point none of that was really what I was thinking of. No, I still had the moment of Pohatu's death vividly front-and-center in my mind, and I found myself tearing up again at several points in the trip with both sadness for his loss and anger at the world that had led him to it. Eventually, though, another concern regarding Pohatu's impending 'legend' came to my mind, and I decided to voice it to Kopaka:

"So, what's Pohatu's legend going to be?" I asked. Kopaka looked up at me, then opened his hands momentarily as a signal that I should elaborate. So I did: "I mean, what'll he be remembered for? Like, the principles he lived by; Onua's was to be to work hard at your chosen job, while Lewa would tell people to have fun with it…"

"Diplomacy," Kopaka cut me off, "and a voice of reason. Pohatu mediated and he made sure he got along with others so they respected him when he offered his opinion."

"Like the opposite of my way or the highway," I interpreted.

"Exactly," Kopaka agreed. "He would work with what others wanted to do, to ensure everyone succeeded together and stayed together. He never aggressively took sides, not like Tahu or Gali."

"Or stay out of it all together like you," I added.

"Right…" Kopaka nodded, though he couldn't disguise that he wasn't too fond of me bringing in his behavior.

"Well, if anything the Matoran could use a figure like him right now," I brought the conversation back to positive ground. "I mean, tensions between the Matoran and Agori have kind of always been there; some mutual understanding could go a long way to resolving that."

"A fitting legacy for my brother," Kopaka concluded.

"Right, just… aren't you worried about his reputation being tainted?" I wondered. "Like, what we saw back in Station West…" Kopaka's expression soured instantly when I mentioned that, but I continued: "Look, I hate it too, but Gali's a laughing stock, has been for years, while Onua only used those crystals for like three months and deep down in the mines, so it was easy to hide. Pohatu's been on the way down for centuries; don't people know?"

"They do not," Kopaka said with a, to me, unsubstantiated degree of confidence.

"How can you be sure?" I wondered.

"When you were watching over Pohatu," Kopaka explained, "I found a phone to call Nuparu."

"At two in the morning?"

"Yes," Kopaka said matter-of-factly, as though the hour hadn't at all factored into his calculations. Granted, with as patchy a schedule as we'd been running over the last few days, and the fact that this was Kopaka, that wasn't really surprising. "I asked him how many people knew of Pohatu's condition."

"Really, how many?" I really was curious about that.

"He said not many, beyond a few other Toa," Kopaka continued. "After he broke his back, he spend a few years coaching. Then, he formally announced his retirement and intent to get out of public life altogether. They had a going-away party, after which all communications with Pohatu had to go through Hewkii, who started to filter things out when his condition got worse."

"So he just gradually fell out of public consciousness?" I interpreted again.

"Indeed," Kopaka confirmed. "They knew he had broken his back, but his drinking and deterioration were never public knowledge, unlike Gali's problems. The only people who know have the same interests at heart that I do."

"Okay…" that made sense enough, though I still found it impressive that Pohatu's condition had been hidden so well for so many years. Then again, if a bunch of Toa put their mind to it, I suppose orchestrating the misleading of so many for the good was possible… And again, Kopaka had completely pre-empted my concerns before he'd even gone through with the act. "So that's what you were doing?" and I'd been so concerned about him not coming back. "You really do think of everything, don't you?"

"I think ahead," Kopaka corrected.

"And what would you've done if everyone had known?" I asked. "What if everyone knew Pohatu as the mad drunk?"

"Then, as you argued with Onua, he would have become a warning," Kopaka answered. "I find the current situation preferable."

"Awful as it is…" I nodded.

"Awful as it is."


	47. Chapter 47

Silence ruled the train again for a while. Or rather, silence except for the constant noise of air rushing past the carriages as we proceeded towards our second stop.

"So, Seaside station is the one by Macku and the Toa Mahri's place," I recalled. "Is that where we're going?"

"It is," Kopaka confirmed. "Pohatu asked me to thank Hewkii, remember?"

"So he did…"

"Also, Hahli can tell the world of his death on her morning news program," Kopaka added.

"Right… they'll probably do a special or something to… well, to get people reacquainted with who Pohatu was," I hypothesized. "Maybe they'll interview other Toa and all that… you know, if it wasn't for the fact that you want people to think you're dead, you could really contribute to that, make sure that Pohatu'll be remembered the right way."

"I could," Kopaka sighed, "but my brother's memory will be in capable hands between the Toa Mahri."

"True, it would be…" I agreed, but it was still somewhat disappointing to know that, beyond informing them, Kopaka had no apparent intention of helping the Toa Mahri and Macku to make sure that the legend he'd talked about, the entire reason that he'd decided to grant Pohatu his wish, actually became the official story. Then again, Hewkii in particular was probably as good a custodian for Pohatu's legacy as one could find, and Hahli's position as popular news anchor gave her a lot of power to shape the story in a positive way, not that Kopaka had acknowledged that as a useful thing before. I guess the stoic Toa's attitude and behavior towards others, in the end, were subject as much to the whims and needs of the situation as they were to his moral code.

By this point, the train was beginning to slow again, and looking forward through it I could see the lights of the second station in the distance. Once the train had stopped, two haggard-looking Agori boarded, which more or less shut down any conversation on the last leg of the trip as far as Kopaka was concerned. Not that I was in the mood to continue either; he'd answered my questions, and emotionally and physically, the events of the night had left me quite drained. No doubt he was feeling the same. We just kind of… sat there, waiting for the train to roll into Seaside Station. When at last it did, Kopaka was quick to disembark, with me following right behind. As before, Seaside was a much cleaner and more tastefully decorated place than Station West had been, thankfully missing any unsolicited satirical artwork on the walls, not that Kopaka would've cared to stop and look if there was any. No, he made a beeline for the stairs, and pretty soon we were standing at the side of the road below the illuminated sign advertising the presence of the station below. A large city map posted beside the sign indicated we were about a block or two away from the beach, and well to the east and slightly north of the city center. I looked up and down the street. It was completely quiet, as was to be expected, barring the two Agori who'd joined us on the train at the last station; having emerged from the underground as well, they now turned right and proceeded south along the road, periodically illuminated by and casting long shadows in the dim light of the street lamps.

"This way." Kopaka was already on the move again. In spite of the fact that both of us were seriously tired, he still kept up a quick pace, reaffirming what he'd told me about running out of time… but running out before what, exactly?

"Why the hurry?" I asked, half-running to catch up.

"Time," he answered.

"Time 'til…"

"We have about two and a half hours until sunrise," Kopaka elaborated. "I want to be out of the city by then."

"Ah, so we stop by the Toa's place, tell Hewkii Pohatu thanked him, and then take off again?" I deduced.

"That is the plan," Kopaka confirmed.

"Right, okay…" I nodded, but something didn't quite sit right with me. Or rather, it dawned on me that Kopaka seemed to think he could just drop in on some other Toa at four in the morning, inform them that their mutual friend and fellow Toa had died, and then leave again without further explanation; that last part probably wouldn't sit well with said other Toa. "You know, I don't want to say you didn't think this through," I began, "but… if you tell them Pohatu's dead, they'll probably have a lot more questions than we'll have time to answer."

"They will not get to ask," Kopaka countered.

"How so?" I wondered.

"I will leave a note," he explained.

"Leave a note?" I wasn't too fond of that either. "Your best friend, their friend is dead, and you're just going to… what, slide a note under their door saying 'hey, the Toa Nuva of Stone is dead'?"

"Not the wording I would use," Kopaka pointed out.

"Well, regardless," I continued, "if a friend and idol of mine had died, I'd much prefer to be informed personally than with a piece of paper."

"I do not have that option," Kopaka said bluntly. "As you said, they would have too many questions."

"I suppose so…" Kopaka turned right; we were now on the street there Macku and the Toa Mahri's house was. "You know, I could tell them," I offered. "You could be on your way, I'll wait here, and come sunrise, when they're up, I'll tell them that Pohatu died. I mean, I was planning to come back here anyways, so, you know, why not?" Kopaka didn't reply, so while the ideas kept flowing I kept going: "Plus, I could help them organize some kind of memorial, maybe, and even deliver a few words on your behalf. Except you're dead to everyone except those Toa… hang on, should I tell them that you killed Pohatu or…"

"Lis," Kopaka suddenly stopped and cut me off. He turned to me. "Do you not have some concerned friends who you promised to return to as soon as possible?"

"Oh, right…" I recalled. "Forgot about that…" Given all that had happened over the last few hours, the fact that Jahlpu and the others were still in Onu-Koro-Nuva had kind of slipped my mind. "I mean, I could call them again, you know, tell them that I'm staying with Hahli, Hewkii, and Jaller… that'd probably put Jahlpu at ease."

"I am certain the other two will be delighted at the news," Kopaka noted.

"Lerome and Kirall? Oh, yeah…" Now I remembered why I'd specifically not mentioned the Toa I'd met to my teammates. "I could have to have Jahlpu make up an excuse, I suppose…"

"No," Kopaka shut it down. "Do not drag him into it. Keep your promises." With that, he turned and started walking again.

"Uhm, okay…" I could tell there was a lot more reason in his mind for him not wanting me to stay behind than that, but clearly nothing that he was willing to share right now. Of course, that only made me more curious. Did his plan beyond this place actually involve me? That would certainly be a change of pace on his part; up until now, he'd largely tolerated my presence and occasionally made use of it, but never entertained the illusion that he actually needed me around for anything. He'd never shied away from telling me I had the option to leave either… yet here I was offering one, and now he told me to stay. No doubt about it; somehow his plan involved me, but how? Only one way to find out when Kopaka was being secretive… so I guess we were going with the note.

Soon, we'd reached the two-story house marked with carved images of the masks of four of its five inhabitants; Macku's Huna, Hahli's Faxon, Jaller's Arthron, and Hewkii's Garai. Gali's presence wasn't advertised, but in light of what I'd seen on the underground station that wasn't all that surprising. All the lights were out. Never one to stop and take in the moment, Kopaka unceremoniously crossed the shallow front lawn, stopped in front of the door, and produced out an old-looking but blank piece of paper and a pen. Holding the paper up against a smooth part of the stone wall, he began to write.

"What does it say?" I asked; in the half-light I couldn't just read it over his shoulder, though he was making no attempt to hide it. He didn't reply, so I looked around for a moment… and just at that point, one of the lights in the room two windows to the right of the front door turned on. "Oh… looks like someone is awake," I observed, careful to keep my voice down. Kopaka looked at the window momentarily, then turned his attention back to the note. "I'll see who it is," I offered, eliciting no further response from Kopaka. Taking his disinterest as permission, I activated my Volitak and walked over to the window to peer inside. The light in question was coming from the kitchen; looking in, I had to wait for a moment for my eyes to adjust. I could see that there was someone bent over in front of the counter… rummaging through the lower cabinets, I figured. After a second or two, the figure slowly, and with some effort, straightened out; it was Gali, apparently on what I could only describe as a midnight kitchen raid. Given that she'd picked up a large, as yet unopened bag of some kind of snack food, her intentions were quite clear. There was a something solemn in the way she went about it, though; the expression on her face, her body language… perhaps 'defeated' was a better word. No doubt this wasn't something she was proud of, and to be honest it was quite dispiriting to see the Toa Nuva of Water reduced to… to this. As she pulled a large cup out of another cabinet and turned her attention to the cold box, I backed away from the window and quickly made my way back to Kopaka.

"It's Gali," I informed him.

"Gali?" he looked at me with just a hint of curiosity. "What is she doing at this hour?"

"Getting a midnight snack, it seems," I answered.

"A midnight snack?" he asked as though the concept was entirely foreign to him. To be fair, it probably was.

"Yeah, she's hungry, I guess…" I knew the real explanation, of course, and it laid more than a little of the blame on Kopaka. Just recalling how he'd berated her that evening, after all she'd done for him, got my blood boiling again. Kopaka? Well, he just kind of shook his head, his expression clearly telegraphing disapproval, then folded his note in half and leant down, intending to push it through under the door. Then I got an idea.

"Hang on," I stopped him. He looked up at me. "You should do something for her, too," I said.

"For Gali?" he questioned it as though the idea was ludicrous, which wasn't helping.

"Yes, really," I answered somewhat agitatedly, though I still kept my voice down as much as I could. "It's because of you that she's in there right now; you came back to set the record straight about Pohatu, fine, but given all she's done for you, you owe her." Kopaka waited a moment before replying:

"I owe her nothing," he said, much more coldly than I'd heard in a while. "Her failures are her own and none of my concern."

"Maybe not, but you aggravated them," I argued. "She saved your life; you bullied her into continuing to destroy herself. You do owe her; you owe her a lot, damn it."

"And what would I do?" Kopaka posed the question as he stood up in his calm yet… challenging, standoff-ish way. "Kill her too? She would not want that, and as you pointed out, her legend has already been tarnished."

"How about helping her instead?" I countered. "That ever cross your mind?"

"You already asked, and I already gave you my answer," he replied. "Pulling her out of the hole she dug for herself would take years, years that I cannot afford to spend, especially not on the person who drove our entire team apart."

"Oh, don't tell me you actually cared much for the team breaking up," I shot back. "All that did was give you the opportunity to leave for good. You relished that. That's not what you were angry about, and it never was."

"I pursued what I determined to be the best course of action, irrespective of what the others were doing with themselves." Kopaka's voice was starting to show hints of anger. "She was the one who let herself go; I merely told her the truth about it." Okay, he was right on that part, despicable and unnecessarily harsh as what he'd said was.

"Okay, so you don't want to spend a long time trying to undo what took her years to wreck, fine," I relented, changing tactics, "but there's got to be something else you can do, something acceptable to you and good for her."

"Lis, there is not." His voice softened somewhat; apparently he was changing tactics too. "You want to believe that everything and everyone can be fixed, but you are wrong. No one could fix Pohatu, not where he was…" his voice wavered slightly, but he pressed on, "… and no one can fix her. If they could, Hahli and Macku would have already done it."

"Well, in Pohatu's case I believe you." I thought for a moment, trying to think of the right way to phrase things, to make an argument to Kopaka. "But Gali? No, she can be fixed. I'm sure of it, and so was Macku. But it requires you; like it or not, you command a respect from her that only a fellow Toa Nuva does."

"Time I cannot spend for an outcome that is not guaranteed," Kopaka summarized dismissively. He considered the matter closed with that, evident by the fact that he started to turn for the door again with is note, but I wasn't done yet.

"Actually… not necessarily," I pointed out. "You know, I think there is a way you can help her, right here, right now. It will only take a couple of minutes at most, and I guarantee it'll help her to get back on track."

"And this way would be?" Kopaka turned back to me, but didn't sound hopeful.

"Apologize to her," I told him.

"Apologize for what?" he questioned.

"For what you said," I continued, "regardless of whether it was true or not. Okay, she's not the sister you left behind, the one you knew. Hell, you don't even believe she deserves the title of Toa anymore, fine. But you've told me multiple times that the truth only has value so long as it benefits the Matoran, or at least doesn't harm them."

"Lis…" he attempted to interrupt, but I wasn't having it.

"No, hear me out on this," I protested. "Let me posit a little scenario here: you apologize to her. You tell her, regardless of what you believe, that she's stronger than that, than the depression that's taken a hold on her, and you apologize for and take back everything you said last time. Her situation is not her fault, at least not completely, and you express confidence that she can get out of it. That's it. You leave, you get to be out of the city by sunrise, but you've also shown her that not everyone has given up on her; not everyone that matters, everyone who she feels she really let down. And because it's you, someone whose respect she had to earn and not Hahli and Macku who'll do whatever they can for her regardless of the situation, that maybe, no, definitely, it'll give her something to hold on to. It'll give her a confidence boost that, with help from Hahli, Macku, and when I come back, from me, will give her the strength to make a concerted effort to save herself."

"You can't guarantee…" Kopaka tried to interject again.

"No, I can't," I acknowledged, cutting him off, "but it'll give her a much better chance than I bet anyone else has done so far. And imagine she succeeds; imagine that, someday within the next few years, she's physically back to who she was; a true Toa Nuva. Now, people can't make fun of her as a failure anymore; if anything, her story is now one of a Toa who faced the darkest depths of the mind and came out triumphant on the other side. Just… imagine the day she does eventually die; she could be a legend to the Matoran like Onua, like Lewa, like you're trying to get Pohatu to be… and like you. Is that not Duty?" I waited for a moment, but now Kopaka didn't take the opportunity to voice his doubts. I could tell I'd started him thinking, but… was I getting somewhere? Time to drive the nail home. "All that could be the future," I continued, "and all it would take from you is for you to get over your own pride and apologize, tell her you were wrong, whether you believe it or not. You could help her take her first step on a road to recovery, not ruin… and I'd like you to do it before even single steps are beyond her physical capability. She needs you, Kopaka; you're the only one who can do this. Tahu'd do it if she didn't hardline him on his job every time, and yeah, that's exactly her problem, but you could make sure that that problem doesn't become her undoing, and that it won't interfere with her duty. That's what it comes down to; if the three virtues are the most important principles that guide you, and Duty is chief among them now, then do yours. Please."

That was it. I'd put everything out there, tried to put as logical and as 'Kopaka' an argument together as I could to get him to do something that I knew didn't sit well with him, with that part of him that he refused to acknowledge yet that so informed his decisions. Somewhere inside, he had that voice telling him that he was better than everyone, better than Gali, and that she deserved everything she'd gotten herself into for breaking up the team in the way she did. In its own twisted way, that little voice that I'd seen as Shadow Kopaka had informed and guided every action he'd taken, every step of the plan the first time around, even his decision to head into the mountains in the first place. I was sure of it. But I knew he could be better than that; I'd already seen it when he'd gone back for Pohatu, even if how exactly he made that decision wasn't exactly clear to me. Perhaps it had something to do with him seeing how Onua met his end… it wouldn't have surprised me if it did, given that he had spoken quite well of the Toa Nuva of Earth before. Still, as I stood and waited for his reply, I wasn't particularly hopeful. His decision on Pohatu was a difficult one, one that I couldn't blame him for being reluctant to repeat, even if this time around it would cost him virtually nothing. All I knew is that I'd made the best argument I could muster, and I couldn't have forgiven myself if I hadn't.

Kopaka'd just… stood there, motionless, looking me sternly and squarely in the eyes while I made that argument. Now that I'd finished, he was still looking at me, but his dark expression had faded and his eyes were way off in the distance, as though he was looking through me and his mind was really somewhere else. He was thinking, lots of things shooting back and forth in his head; that much I could tell. It wasn't unlike when I'd tried to get his attention for my apology on the train back to this city, shortly after I'd shown him how Onua had died. Had he been thinking about Pohatu's request then? If so, he faced a similar choice now; to go with that part of Shadow Kopaka that remained and rationalize the choice away by citing the, in his (or rather, the voice's) opinion, low odds that Gali would actually succeed, or to go with duty as I argued and put his pride, his ego off to the side. For me the right choice was obvious, and I think it would've been to most people, but in a sense I'd asked Kopaka to act against part of himself, and as such it wasn't surprising, if discouraging, that for a minute or so he kind of seemed at war with himself. I suppose that, even if he did choose not to apologize, at the very least I could take some satisfaction out of the fact that I'd posed a question that took him serious consideration to answer.


	48. Chapter 48

After what felt like ages but was probably half a minute at most, Kopaka finally lowered his head, coming out of his conflicted trance. He'd made his decision, I knew, but he didn't bother to vocalize it. Instead he sighed, then turned, hesitated for a moment… and knocked on the door.

He knocked on the door.

I'd expected him to do something along the line of sighing, explaining why he wouldn't apologize in some logical, rationalized way, and then stick with the note. But no, he knocked on the door. Had he... Had he changed his mind, his plan, in favor something I'd argued for, something I'd never really dared to expect him to go along with? I mean, in light of what he'd told me when last we were here... This wasn't the Kopaka I'd known before, or at least not the one I'd known before the end of Pohatu. Yeah, something'd changed, but was it too late? For a while, the knock elicited no response, and I feared Gali'd already gone back downstairs, back to her basement hollow. Looking back towards the kitchen window, I noticed the light was still on. Gali didn't seem the type to me to leave it on, particularly since she probably hadn't been all that comfortable with what she'd been doing anyways. Still, if she was still up here, she would've made it to the door by now; what gave? After a minute or so, Kopaka looked about to give in.

"The light's still on," I pushed him on. "She should still be up." He hesitated for a moment, then knocked again. Again we waited, and I'd just started making my way back to the window when our patience was rewarded and we finally heard the tell-tale sound of the door being unlocked. It opened inwards slightly. The face of the Toa Nuva of Water appeared, peering nervously out into the darkness. Her eyes widened when she saw Kopaka.

"K-Kopaka?" she stammered, distinctly nervous, even… afraid. In light of how they'd last parted, I couldn't blame her.

"Gali," he greeted solemnly. Standing halfway between the window and the door, I didn't fall into the light of either; Gali didn't immediately pick up on my presence, and I wasn't sure how exactly to come in. Then again, nor did I really want to; Kopaka'd made his decision, now he had to go with it. So I watched, curious about how exactly this exchange would go down.

"W-what do you want?" Gali asked timidly.

"I have a message for Hahli," he replied. His voice sounded, if anything, empty. It lacked its usual conviction, but it wasn't hesitant either, more… going through the motions, his mind not fully in it, like he was purposely distancing himself. It was his practiced insulation at work.

"Hahli?" Gali repeated, then averted her eyes for a moment. "I-I can see if she's awake…"

"No, you can get it to her later," Kopaka interjected and offered her the note. Gali opened the door a bit further, then reached out and picked it out of his hand.

"I-I'll make sure she gets it," she promised. Kopaka didn't say anything in reply, and for a few seconds the two stood in awkward silence. For his part, Kopaka seemed confused as to how exactly to proceed; this hadn't been part of his plan, and as such he was having a hard time figuring it out. Gali waited, perhaps for him to bring the conversation to some kind of conclusion, or maybe she was still trying to process the fact that Kopaka was here at this hour. Either way, in her demeanor there was little left to recognize of the driven, confident Toa who I'd worked with on the surgery… Kopaka really had shattered something in her, or perhaps just re-shattered it, and Gali had yet to put it back together. Still, eventually it was her who broke the silence.

"Uhm, so... that's all?" she wondered. Kopaka didn't reply, still clearly trying to figure out a plan of some kind as to where to take this conversation. "Well, okay then…" Gali said, disappointedly if anything, as she turned to close the door.

"That note…" Kopaka suddenly spoke up, "…you should know what is on it."

"I should?" Gali turned back to Kopaka, inadvertently opening the door further in the process. In absence of further explanation on Kopaka's part, she started to unfold the note.

"No need for you to open it," the Toa of Ice interjected. "It is just… it is not good news."

"Bad news?" she looked up from working the note. "About what?" Kopaka paused for a second, considering how exactly to respond to her curiosity. As far as I was concerned, he should've just told her, and apparently that was the conclusion that he came to as well.

"It is about Pohatu," he continued after a deep breath. "He… he is gone. Dead."

"D-dead?" Gali's eyes widened with shock. "H-how could…"

"He was not doing well," Kopaka solemnly went on. "He was hurting a lot, Gali."

"Hurting?..." Gali's gaze dropped as she steadied herself against the doorway. "He was that… that bad?"

"He was ready to die..." Kopaka trailed off for a moment, then reasserted himself.

"By Mata Nui…" Gali whispered, barely audible. One hand went to her face while she steadied herself against the doorway with the other; tears had appeared in her eyes. "I-I should've done something."

"You did do something," Kopaka pointed out.

"Not enough," Gali shook her head. "He… he needed more. I failed him." Her voice was breaking up as she uttered those words. She was the picture of grief, leaning against the doorway with a sad, empty look to her, still clutching the note. This was something that Kopaka clearly wasn't quite sure how to deal with; he was still trying to hold himself stoically. However, it was clearly difficult for him as well, most notably because his eyes were tearing up too. "I-I failed him…" Gali repeated to herself. Kopaka averted his eyes for a moment. Then, almost out of nowhere, he stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"No, Sister," he said far more softly than I'd anticipated, "you did not fail him. You did everything you could. He said so much himself."

"Everything I could didn't save him," Gali replied through bitter tears, struggling with the words.

"No one…" Kopaka began, his voice breaking as well, "no one could have helped him. He was gone, Gali, no longer for this world. You could not change it, and neither could I. We did what we could. He... he died in peace." Gali looked up for a moment and shook her head. Kopaka said no more, still trying to maintain his composure, but in his way he was showing as much pain as she was, which she realized. After as second or two, she stepped forward and embraced her brother.

"In peace..." she muttered. "Thank Mata Nui..." Again, Kopaka seemed caught off guard by the sudden display of emotion, but to my surprise he eventually returned the gesture as best as he was able, awkwardly embracing Gali in return. Very quickly, that embrace became more genuine, though; both Toa were overcome, each the other's shoulder to cry on, grieving the loss of their brother and friend. Kopaka happened to be facing away from me, but I could tell he was shedding tears, too. After a while they released, reverting to their previous positions; him facing off to her standing in the doorway, a few feet of space between them, both recollecting themselves.

"Do you want to come in?" Gali eventually offered.

"I cannot stay," Kopaka went back to his old refrain.

"But they're going to have a memorial," Gali continued, "and you have to be there. You… you owe it to him. We all do."

"No, I was there," Kopaka explained, "I was there when he died… we said our goodbyes."

"Of course," Gali sighed. "Of course you did, but... you've got to say something in his memory."

"I already have," Kopaka pointed at the note. "My words, not to be credited to me." Gali looked down at the note for a moment, then back at him.

"Well, I still don't want you to go," she said. "You can't… I can't watch you go again."

"And I cannot stay here," Kopaka repeated himself. Gali looked down for a moment, swallowed, then looked up again, but didn't say anything. I think… I think it was her coming to face reality, much as she hated that reality; Kopaka wasn't going to stay, no matter how much she wanted him to. She'd tried every argument the last time he was here, and the answer had been made brutally clear to her; he was going to leave her alone again regardless of what she said, of what she argued. Still, she wanted to, had to hope that something, anything could change his mind, even if she was drawing a blank now.

"You're going to die up there," she began, her face an expression of hopelessness. "You go back there, it's guaranteed, but you're going to do it anyways… and I can't stop you." She raised her hands for a moment, then dropped them at her side again, at a loss for words. Kopaka held still for a few seconds, again trying to come up with what to him probably seemed like a satisfactory reply, some retort, a last word before turning around and leaving perhaps. That's what I was expecting, but I'll admit that what came after still took me by surprise.

"Gali," Kopaka began as he took a step forward. "Stop doing this to yourself."

"Stop what?" she asked, somewhat perplexed.

"Stop trying to recreate a world that no longer exists." He paused before continuing as Gali looked at him with more than a hint of bewilderment. "You have tried everything, sister, as you always did, but you cannot bring the old Toa Nuva back. Not Tahu, not Pohatu..."

"… and not you?" she finished, sounding disappointed. "You're telling me to leave you alone because… you're you."

"Yes," Kopaka acknowledged. Gali shook her head again as her expression fell.

"So I can't do anything for you either…" she sighed. Kopaka didn't respond verbally, but the expression on his face was a pained one, mirroring Gali's. "So it goes… well, goodbye then," she said bitterly as she began to close the door again.

"Gali, wait," Kopaka spoke up. She held the door, looking back to him. "You are right," he continued, "right in that you cannot do for me what you have tried and failed to do for all of us. However, there is someone who you can do something for: yourself."

"Me?" Gali questioned.

"You know what I am talking about," Kopaka momentarily nodded down at her body, an unquestioning reference to the Toa Nuva of Water's physical condition. "You are better than that, and you know it. If you really want to do something for me, do something for yourself and put the second helpings down."

"Really?" Gali opened the door again, but the tone of her voice had suddenly turned less than hopeful, more… skeptical, almost sarcastic. "Is that what I need to do? I should tell you I'll set myself straight so you can march off to your death feeling good about how you left?" All of the sudden, the grief-stricken Gali was gone; there was much more fire in her voice. "You don't get to do that, Kopaka," she continued. "You don't get a clean conscience when you leave like that, not when you could stay for the good of yourself and others but refused to." She stopped for a moment, that fire apparently already running out of steam, but bitterness remained. "Yeah, this sucks…" she acknowledged, "and I know, but if you're leaving me like this, then this is the image you'll have to live with." She took a step back and raised her arms slightly from her sides to emphasize her size, presenting a view that Kopaka couldn't hide from, as though she intended to sear the image of her grotesque obesity into his mind. It had shocked him so much when he'd first met her again… but this time his reaction was altogether different, different than from then and from what I had expected. He held his ground, his expression turning cold as he looked her up and down. I feared for a moment that he'd respond to her sudden... bitterness with another tirade to put her in her place, but no tirade came. Instead, he calmly, if coldy replied:

"Spite, Gali? Is that spite? You wish for me to leave you like this, just so you can be a stain on my conscience? Is that what you want?" Her expression hardened. The temperature seemed to drop as he continued: "If that is what you want, then I will leave, and do not think that I will care. You will have doomed yourself to your fate, and only to spite me." He took a step forward again. "Go ahead, go back to that kitchen," he said in a rapidly darkening tone, "empty the cabinets, the ice box, everything… keep going until you cannot pick yourself up from the floor anymore. I am sure Hahli and Macku will carry you around on their backs if it came to that. And one day, when what is left in there finally gives out on you," he pointed at Gali's heartlight, "then you will be able to die with the satisfaction that you got to haunt my conscience the way you do every other Matoran's when they see you being made a mockery of a Toa by the Agori. That is what you are asking for, sister, and make no mistake that I will give that to you." He kept his expression steeled, his voice subdued enough not to wake anyone but nonetheless threatening in the extreme, a fact that clearly wasn't lost on Gali; her facade was crumbling. That confidence, that force of personality that had come with her assertion of her place in his mind had drained away, replaced once again by a Gali that looked more like what she'd become after he'd berated her post-surgery. He held his position for a moment, looking down on the Toa of Water as though he was about to deliver a verbal finishing blow; I was about to jump in, to drag him back, to make sure he didn't… but then his expression suddenly saddened. He turned for a moment, lowering his head and looking away both from me and Gali before turning his attention back on the latter again. "What has happened to you?" he asked, his voice suddenly much gentler. "This is not you. The Gali I knew would never do this, become spiteful on the assumption that it would somehow hurt those who hurt her. You were better than that." He stopped for a moment, perhaps awaiting a response, but Gali had none to give; those words had hit home. "I see…" he shook his head as he stepped back again, "… you are better than that. You still are."

"Look, I'm sorry," Gali began feebly. "I just can't, can't have this happen, not again."

"No..." Kopaka stopped her, "I am sorry." She looked up at him questioningly. "I am sorry," he continued, "sorry for what I said last time. I believed you responsible for things that you were not, and let anger over that get the better of me." Her expression, once again, was one of astonishment, and for that matter so was mine. "Truth is, you did everything you could, more than anyone else was willing to do, and for that you were the best of us," he admitted. "In spite of everything you tried to keep us together, and when that failed you continued to help each of us as best you could no matter how thankless a job it was. Of all of us, you should have been the one who succeeded in this world, and you can still be."

"No, not without…" she began, but didn't get further.

"Gali," he interrupted, "you cannot let bitterness and despondence over our failings get the better of you. You are better than that, and the Matoran need you to be. To them, you are the only Toa Nuva left, the only true Toa Nuva. So stop, sister, stop blaming yourself for losing what was never yours to hold on to. Stop thinking that the only thing you can do worthwhile in this world is to try and get us back to where we can never be again. Save yourself; you are stronger than this, and you do not need me to beat it." He took a step back and held there, giving her a chance to reply, but his heartfelt apology had momentarily left her speechless. So, with a last nod and fateful glance, he turned and started down the path across the yard.

"Wait!" Gali called as he reached the sidewalk. He stopped, but did not turn around. Having stepped outside in an effort to catch up, she now did the same; the few steps out into the yard were probably further out than she'd been in ages. "I-I'll try," she began, "but you have to as well. You don't have to stay, fine, but…" she paused for a moment to consider her plea, "if you do need anything, and I know you will... please don't be a stranger." That was it; acceptance of his wanting to leave reconciled, to some degree, with her wanting to make sure he wouldn't die by it. He waited a moment, then turned his head and unenthusiastically replied:

"I will see what I can do." She nodded, though the expression on her face was a seriously doubtful one. Kopaka was about to get going again when he suddenly remembered something. "One more thing."

"Anything, please" she invited.

"Tell Hewkii that Pohatu thanked him for everything that he did for him," he recalled. "It was his last wish."

"I will," she confirmed. "Him and Hahli; I'll get them the messages."

"Thank you," he nodded. "Farewell, sister."

"Farewell…" Gali's voice trailed off as tears were taking over again. She watched as Kopaka took two steps forward, clearing the yard, then turned right and made his way along the road. She wanted to stop him, I could feel it, but at the same time some part of her knew it was futile. But where ordinarily that could've been nothing but extremely depressing to her, I detected something of a ray of hope… did she think he'd really come back again if he needed to? For that matter, would he? At this point, I wouldn't have been surprised if he would, and this was the first time that I'd felt hopeful that maybe, just maybe, him going back into the mountains wouldn't be the end, not for good. Then again… how much of what he'd said did he actually mean?

"Lis?" I was startled out of my thoughts by Gali who, turning around to head back into the house, had spotted me sitting by the wall.

"Oh, hi," I greeted a bit nervously.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked, remarkably composed now for someone who'd just learned her brother had died and who'd just watched another walk away to his almost inevitable demise.

"Oh, sorry about the flowers…" I noticed as I got up that I'd ducked into a flower bed when the door had first opened, "and, uhm… no thanks."

"Really?" Gali questioned. "It gets cold out at night."

"Actually, I should get going," I explained, looking in the direction that Kopaka'd headed. "I've… I've got a few questions left for him. But I'll be back afterwards."

"For Kopaka…" her expression fell again. "Good luck," she said without sounding very hopeful of success.

"Well, a lot has changed over the last few days," I continued, trying to lend some legitimacy to my plan in her eyes. "He's… he's changed his plans before, and maybe I can get him to do it again."

"I wouldn't get my hopes up," Gali sighed, "but please, try. You are right that something about him is different, and by this point you probably know him as well as anyone. If anyone can save him from himself... it could be you."

"I hope so," I agreed. "Anyways… I'll see you again soon; two days at the most."

"Go," Gali replied. "I'll be here." There was something different about her there, about her tone, that kept me occupied for a moment as I quickly followed the path Kopaka'd taken. She'd sounded almost… hopeful, hopeful in a way that I hadn't seen since the first evening when we got here, hopeful in the way that I was sure Hahli wanted to see. Was it an expression of confidence on her part? That was a lot for a person she'd hardly met, but then again she did say that I knew Kopaka about as well as anyone else at this point. If anyone stood a chance of changing his course at this point, to make sure he wouldn't go back into the mountains or at least wouldn't make it permanent, it really was me. And I'd already changed his plan once before…

Given Kopaka's usual quick walking pace, my thoughts quickly turned to the worry that I'd lost him for good, that he'd already gotten far enough that I'd never find him in the myriad of city streets. When I reached the crossing where we'd turned onto the street with Macku and Hahli's house on it and still hadn't caught so much of a glimpse of him, I decided that my only chance was to try and beat him to the central station, to catch him there… but which way was fastest? On a hunch, I turned left, the direction from which we'd come, and started running. The underground rail line had to have at least one branch that went to the central station, and there'd been a city map there as well, so either way it'd help me get to the central station quicker. As the sign advertising the entrance to Seaside Station came in to view, though, I started to slow down; I spotted a familiar figure sitting on a bench beneath the sign. It was Kopaka, apparently awaiting my return.

"Finished?" he asked as I approached.

"She… she took a while to go inside," I explained, initially wanting to leave the details of our conversation out of the picture.

"No doubt because she saw you," he deduced as he got up.

"Yeah, she did…" I admitted. "I told her I'd be back."

"Good," he concluded as he started to make his way down the stairs into the station.

"Good?" I wondered.

"She will need help, and you told me you were willing to give it," he explained. "Your time will be much better spent helping her than it would've been trying to help Pohatu."

"True, I guess…" He was definitely right there, tragic as it was… in his condition, even I couldn't have done much to help Pohatu, but while Gali was physically in poor shape, her mind was still there, willing and able to set things straight.

"Central station, two tickets," Kopaka informed the Agori behind the ticket counter. The latter informed us that our timing was 'impeccable,' since a train headed there was just about to depart. Kopaka'd already put the required widgets down on the counter before the he'd even read off the price, and within seconds we were making our way back into the station, where indeed a train was already waiting. There were a few other early bird passengers on board, so Kopaka opted to find the spot as far away from as many of them as possible, which turned out to be almost slap-bang in the middle of the central car this time. I started to speak up, but his expression immediately telegraphed to me in no uncertain terms that I was better off keeping my mouth shut while there were other people around; as Toa, we were attracting enough attention as it was, and he clearly wasn't keen on me giving away anything now after he'd managed to keep his identity hidden for so long, regardless of how many questions I had. So I waited, albeit begrudgingly. Thankfully, the trip to the central station took only around fifteen minutes. Upon arrival, we made our way up from its underground portion, showed our return tickets to the Matoran manning the one open register, and soon found ourselves back on the upstairs landing where our next train was already waiting. However, the Matoran'd informed us that it would be a good thirty minutes 'till departure, and that the train was at present being cleaned, preventing us from boarding. Kopaka opted to wait on one of the station benches instead; a capital idea that I was right no board with. Also, with no other Matoran or Agori in sight, I could finally pick up where I left off.

"You know, I'm proud of you," I began as I took a seat next to him. He didn't reply, so I elaborated: "you actually did it; you apologized to her."

"So I did," Kopaka confirmed matter-of-factly, "though I fail to see how that makes you proud."

"You wouldn't have done that normally," I continued. "You would've just left that note and been done with it."

"I said some things to set her straight," Kopaka rephrased it. "Not exactly an earth-shattering development."

"That's not true," I said, "and you know it." He grumbled but didn't reply in word, which I took as a sure sign that I was right; what he'd done there was fundamentally against that part of his personality he refused to acknowledge, that ego that I'd seen as Shadow Kopaka and that had governed the way he'd lashed out at Gali the first time. It was also the part that drove his need to be alone, to be away from everyone, which was why he was going into those mountains again… so, if I'd gotten him to act against it once by arguing in his language of Duty to the Matoran, could I do it again? "You know, you don't have to go…" I continued, but he immediately shut that down.

"Lis, save it for the journey," he said with a hint of agitation in his voice. I hesitated for a moment, then decided to take his advice; if I was ticking him off, the chances of him cooperating were not good. Still, I wouldn't let him off that easily. I would let off for now, but later I would broach the subject again. In light of what I'd just seen, I had decided on an ultimatum; somehow, he'd have to either admit to his real reason for going back to the mountains, or not go back at all.


	49. Chapter 49

Slowly but surely, Matoran and Agori began to arrive on the platform. By the time we were allowed to board, there were enough to fill up a car or two, though by no means the entire train. As always, Kopaka made his way quietly to the back car, and as before we were alone, and tired enough to pretty much collapse on to the chairs and fall asleep right then and there, which is exactly what I did. I woke up to the light of the sunrise streaming into the cabin, a little over an hour after the train'd left station and still not feeling all that rested; I'd have to wait until we reached the forested section of the trip before it'd be easily possible to get some more. Kopaka appeared to be meditating as he'd often done during these long rides; probably thinking of whatever he was going to do when he got back to the mountains. Speaking of which, I was about to bring the subject up again when, to my surprise, he got up and made his way over to the front of the car, where a telescreen was located. In spite of having shown no interest in the happenings on the telescreen before, he attempted to turn it on. However, like the screens in the last cars of previous trips, this one did not appear to be functional, prompting him to make his way to the next car forward instead. Curious about what exactly he was interested in watching, I followed right behind.

The second to last car's telescreen was also out of order, but the one in the next one forward was already on, turned to one of the premier news channels. There were a few Agori and Matoran dispersed throughout the car, and Kopaka took a seat relatively close to the telescreen but at least three away from the other inhabitants. I took the one next to him.

"What are you watching?" I asked quietly.

"It is almost seven," he replied. "Hahli's morning program is on at seven."

"Oh, right…" I realized. The announcement, of course. Kopaka merely nodded, then turned his attention back on the screen. I did the same, and soon the intro to Hahli's news program was playing, followed by the appearance of the Toa Mahri of Water sitting behind a desk in a studio, sorting through some notes while a large telescreen behind her displayed the program's logo, a stylized version of her Kanohi Faxon accompanied by the title "Chronicler's Report: Morning Edition." It was a program that I'd seen plenty of, since Kirall'd always made a point of watching it religiously even when the Skakdi crisis was at its height. Normally, once the camera was on her, Hahli would look up with a smile, greet the viewers enthusiastically, and then proceed with whatever was on the docket for the day. However, on this day, even in the moment before she turned her attention to the camera, it was obvious that that infectious enthusiasm was missing.

"Good morning, Spherus Magna," she greeted in an unusually solemn tone. "Breaking news today as Pohatu was found dead in his home shortly before sunrise." She took a moment to clear her throat before continuing: "investigations are ongoing, but so far it appears that the former Toa Nuva died peacefully in his sleep." The telescreen behind her changed to a portrait picture taken years ago of Pohatu as a Kolhii player, while Hahli explained some of the history behind the person. "A former member of the Toa Nuva, the Toa team that led the residents of the Matoran Universe during the Battle for Bara Magna, he became better known afterwards as the most successful Kolhii player in the history of the sport until a catastrophic injury took him out of the game. After several years of coaching, he formally retired from public life, referring any questions to his long-time friend and fellow Toa, Hewkii, who today informed us of his death. Memorial services are yet to be scheduled, but we will keep you updated on any developments." She looked down at her notes for a moment, sighed, then looked up again, clearly trying to maintain a professional appearance in spite of the fact that this news very much affected her personally. "Excuse me for a moment," she said in a slightly shaky voice, then gestured to her left. "With the weather for today, here is Aliesi."

The camera cut to a Jungle Tribe Agori standing in front of an even larger telescreen displaying a stylized map of New Atero and the surrounding areas, who proceeded to explain with colorful graphics what the weather'd be like, not that I was paying much attention. Looking around, I noticed that most of the Matoran and Agori in the car looked quite shocked; those that were sitting next to each other were talking in hushed tones, while others turned their attention back to whatever they were reading or doing beforehand, their faces still betraying a degree of concern. A Po-Matoran who'd been sitting close to the back of the car, clearly quite upset, got up and walked down the aisle to the car in front. Before long, a couple of other Matoran and Agori followed, though perhaps it was more because it was about time for breakfast to be served in the dining car ahead than any feeling regarding the news. Kopaka, meanwhile, appeared to remain unmoved on the outside, sitting there with his hood pulled up to disguise himself from others and, perhaps, to disguise his feelings from me. He made no comment, and it wasn't long before he got up and started for the car behind. I followed, and soon we were sitting down in the last car again, well away from the other passengers and the noise of the telescreen.

"Well, she got the message across," I observed as a half-hearted attempt to start a conversation again. Kopaka apparently saw no reason to reply; instead, he reached behind his back and produced a couple of widgets.

"Breakfast is being served in the dining car." He offered me the widgets.

"True…" I took the widgets, but thought it rather curious that breakfast was his preferred topic right now. "I guess I am kind of hungry…"

"While you are over there, could you get me something?" he asked.

"Sure, what do you like?" I got up.

"Whatever they have," he said dismissively. Normally, I would've expected him to be more specific, but I quickly deduced that he was either exhausted beyond caring or just wanted me gone for a while.

"Sure, I'll be right back," I said as I started for the door. The dining car was close to the middle of the train, and quite crowded; the other passengers were getting meals too, so I had to wait in line, or rather I would've had to if I hadn't been a Toa. The moment I entered the car, which up until then appeared to have had an atmosphere of light consternation about it, everyone fell quiet and all eyes of the Matoran and Agori turned to me. Some stepped aside, motioning for me to go ahead towards the counter, which was being manned at the time by a Fire Tribe Agori. I moved ahead, rather uncomfortable with the whole display even if they were just trying to be nice; the looks on their faces alone could pretty much be read as "my condolences." The whispering in the back didn't help.

"Uhm, two Burnak sandwiches please," I asked the Agori when I reached the counter.

"Of course," he immediately reached down, pulling two wrapped-up sandwiches from a shelf under the counter. I put the widgets Kopaka'd given me down along with some of my own, he counted them out, and that was the transaction. "Sorry about the news," he said as I picked up the sandwiches.

"Thanks," I nodded politely before making my way back to the door by which I'd entered, increasingly nervous about the fact that everyone seemed to be looking at me… I mean, for all they knew I'd never met Pohatu, yet all of them seemed to make the assumption that his death was like a personal loss to me. I mean, yes, it was, but… A few months before, if I'd walked in right after Pohatu's death, no one would've so much as blinked; just another Ce-Matoran going about her business, but now that I was a Toa it was like they immediately jumped to the conclusion that I must've known Pohatu even though he'd purposely isolated himself over the last few centuries. It was just another reminder that, much as I sometimes wanted to believe that I hadn't much changed, especially in awkward moments like those, my appearance to others certainly had. Returning to the last car, I found Kopaka hadn't so much as moves a muscle. I offered him the sandwich, he took it, and we ate in silence. Outside, the city of New Atero had vanished over the horizon, our view now replaced by green rolling hills and pastures, whose most notable inhabitants consisted of a well-dispersed herd of Kikanalo. It was a beautiful day, not that either of us really cared that much; for how I was feeling the sky should've been gray with pouring rain, and based on what I'd seen after the announcement and in the dining car, I wasn't alone. For a while, I found my thoughts drifting to my teammates in Onu-Koro-Nuva; had they seen the news? Given how early it was, probably not... then again, depending on the events of the previous night Kirall might've gotten up to see the morning edition. Still, sooner or later they'd come to hear of it. How would they take it? For the time being, the only conclusion I could come to was that Jahlpu would probably take it most seriously, which, to borrow Kopaka's words, wasn't exactly an earth-shattering development. Then again, they'd probably all be up for at least attending the memorial.

After finishing his breakfast, Kopaka returned to meditation again. Looking for a drink and having forgotten to bring some along after the first awkward spectacle in the dining car, I started on my way back to there, hoping that perhaps the crowd had died down slightly. Along the way I found that the third-to-last car was now empty, its passengers probably in the dining car, but the telescreen was still on. To my surprise, they were rolling footage around Pohatu's house, though not in it, because Jaller and some of the New Atero Guard had apparently blocked it off for an investigation. Over it all, Hahli explained in greater detail how things had gone that morning; according to her, Hewkii'd gone over to Pohatu's house just before sunrise to check on the old Toa before starting his training regimen for the day, and had found the elder in bed and unresponsive. Shortly thereafter, a first response team pronounced Pohatu dead on the scene, barely twenty minutes before the broadcast of the morning edition of Chronicler's Report. Jaller answered some questions to the crew on the scene, informing them that, so far, all the signs pointed to a natural death. Of course, I knew that was all a lie, but whatever Kopaka'd put on that note, it appeared quite clear to me that the Toa Mahri fully intended to cement the legend of Pohatu as he'd intended it.

The interview with Jaller was followed up, after some other program and a long break, with a more in-depth, if hastily prepared look at the life and work of the Toa Nuva of Stone, starting with his first appearance to the Po-Matoran on the island of Mata Nui. Hewkii was brought in to answer questions and explain a lot along the way, remaining quite composed considering he was talking in depth about someone who he'd been very close to and who had died just that morning. As the broadcast continued, he became more and more the presenter over Hahli, though the latter frequently asked him to elaborate on various parts of the story. Descriptions of Pohatu and the other Toa Nuva fighting hostile Rahi and Makuta Teridax himself were followed by the laying out of the Bohrok Wars, the return of Teridax and the Rahkshi, and the appearance of Takanuva. Hahli mentioned that, as a side note, that Takanuva had been gone for years; best anyone knew, he'd left the planet to go and find the Great Beings themselves, who he believed had left to build another world elsewhere. On this journey, he'd been accompanied by an odd Po-Matoran named Velika. It certainly was a quest up the former chronicler's alley, though many recognized it had increasingly become an obsession to him in the years leading up to his disappearance. Either way, Hewkii turned the attention back to Pohatu by briefly leading into the Toa Nuva's disastrous visit to Voya Nui, which led to him and the other Toa Mahri becoming Toa in the first place. That, as Hahli informed the viewers, concluded part one of a look at the life of Toa Nuva Pohatu, with part two to be broadcast at the same time tomorrow.

By that point, between the length of the program and all the interruptions and breaks for other news along the way, the clock was closing on eleven-thirty. Quite a few other passengers had come to the car in the meantime, most also watching the special broadcast while it was on. Murmuring among them afterwards suggested to me that it had gotten them thinking, which in light of the intent to cement Pohatu in the public consciousness seemed to me like a good thing. However, given that we'd reached the forested part of the journey and that I was feeling more tired than ever, I decided not to join in and instead make my way back to the last car to take advantage of the shade and at last catch some serious sleep. Kopaka appeared to be doing the same thing. It wasn't until the late afternoon when I woke up again, at least feeling refreshed if still completely off-schedule. By then, the train was winding its way along tracks that snaked around one forested hill after another, occasionally resorting to bridges or tunnels to make the journey slightly less… meandering and lengthy. Granted, that seemed kind of pointless given that it took well over twenty hours to get from New Atero to Onu-Koro-Nuva anyways, but at least this line didn't make any unwarranted stops along the way. Worryingly, however, Kopaka was nowhere to be seen, a mystery that was solved quickly when, as I moved forward through cars looking for him, he appeared coming back the other way with dinner from the dining car. I opted to follow his example, and before long we were back in the last car, enjoying the traveler's variety of Gafna cubes and other assorted tidbits.

"You know, there was a special on about Pohatu earlier," I began as we polished off the last of the meal. "They were talking about his life."

"What part?" Kopaka asked.

"The earlier parts, I guess," I elaborated. "Island of Mata Nui, mostly. They'll broadcast part two tomorrow."

"Have they scheduled the ceremony yet?" Kopaka wondered.

"If they did, they didn't say," I answered.

"Yet the process has begun," Kopaka concluded, betraying just a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

"I suppose it has," I acknowledged, "but it's a pity that you won't be there to see it." Instantly, I could tell Kopaka's mood drop, along with the surrounding temperature.

"Lis, I have explained myself on that matter," he coldly reminded me.

"Yes, you have, plenty of times…" I recalled, "going back because Duty and all. Still, you've never really told the truth about it, have you?"

"Why would I have told you anything but the truth?" he wondered.

"Because you can't handle it," I pointed out. "You've been very keen to dismiss what I saw that night when they were working on your leg, but I think it reveals a lot more about you than you can stand."

"You have already brought that up," he recalled. "It did not end well."

"No, but I thought I had nothing to lose," I admitted, "and that was before you changed."

"Changed?" He clearly had his doubts.

"Yeah, something's different about you," I continued. "Ever since I showed you what happened to Onua… you turned around immediately after that, and did something that you'd already said you wouldn't do: fulfilling Pohatu's wish."

"I had new information," Kopaka explained more calmly than he felt about it. "As such, I had to re-evaluate my decision."

"Right, but then you did it again," I continued, "with Gali. You apologized to her; the old you wouldn't have done that. The old you told her off because you resented her for what she let herself become."

"I still do," he pointed out, "but you made a sound argument. The Matoran would benefit more from a Gali that conquered her failings than one that publicly went down with them, and as such it was my duty to help get her started, even if it meant telling lies."

"I don't think those were all lies, though," I countered. "You do care for her, and it showed. That apology was genuine."

"Believe what you will," he dismissed the idea.

"Regardless, something's still changed," I got back on point, "and in light of that I want to ask you to re-evaluate another decision: going back to the mountains."

"That was never a decision, it was the end goal all along," he pointed out.

"Semantics," I scoffed.

"I have already explained why I am going back," he reiterated once again. "My absence benefits the Matoran more than my presence, and I am doing my duty as I have chosen it up in the mountains."

"You didn't make the former argument until you saw what happened with Onua," I noted, "and the latter doesn't hold water if you die up there, which is what's going to happen and you know it. You die up there and no one ever figures out what you found; how does that help the Matoran?"

"In time, you will see," he sighed, showing exasperation more than the anger that I'd expected. "Patience, Lis, have patience."

"Oh, so you've, say… amended your plan to rectify this issue?" I fished on. "'cause from my point of view it looks like nothing's changed."

"You could say the plan has been amended," he acknowledged, "and you will see it soon. For now, I prefer you leave me alone."

"Of course you do," I sighed, "and I'm sure your amended plan seems great, just… you were willing to consider what I argued before. Please, do that now."

"I will," he promised.

"Thanks." It came out more half-heartedly than I meant; the whole exchange wasn't filling me with hope that he'd actually reconsider. "One more thing," I remembered as I got up.

"Go on," he invited.

"What did you put on that note?" I asked. Really, he couldn't have written that much on it. How detailed had his instructions been?

"A hero died today. Please ensure that he is well remembered." He said it as though we was reciting it.

"That's all?" The simplicity of the message took me by surprise. No details as to who the hero was or how he should be remembered?

"They knew what to do from there," Kopaka asserted.

"I suppose so…" I nodded. No argument there; part one of a multi-part special oh Pohatu's life within hours of his death was far more than I'd expected, even if the production standards of the first part were understandably low-key. I suspected Kopaka felt the same way, but with him already locking me out as he returned to the inner sanctum of his mind, I didn't ask. He'd told me what I wanted to hear, that he'd consider my proposal, and for all I could decipher that was what he was doing right now… or had he already done it? As I made my way to the front of the car, his amended plan started to occupy my thoughts, too: what could it possibly be, and when was he planning on actually showing me? I preferred it be revealed sooner rather than later, both because of curiosity and so I could attempt to poke holes in it, so to speak. I mean, whatever he'd thought up had to be either a way to stave off disaster, which I reasoned would be folly given that his condition could do naught but deteriorate, or a way to get what he had put together by the time of his death to the Matoran, which still didn't resolve the fact that he'd be dead whenever it came to fruition. Or was he planning to come back again if he got hurt bad? That was an easy one to argue against; he'd barely made it back in time the first time around, what possible guarantee could he have that he'd be able to make it back the second? Then there was the fact that there'd been hints that this plan somehow involved me; he'd paid for my tickets ever since he'd gone on his way back to New Atero, as clear a sign as any that he intended to keep me around and a marked departure from his previous policy of letting me come along at my own expense so long as it suited him. I spent quite a while trying to reason my way through in this manner, hoping to decipher what his plan was, but in the end I still came up with nothing conclusive.

Nightfall eventually passed without much notice, though a re-broadcast of the first part of the special about Pohatu's life on a different channel kept me entertained for a while as I spent some time two cars ahead. The only other thing of note that happened was that, halfway through the re-broadcast, the date for Pohatu's official burial had been decided upon and was announced; almost exactly a week away, a point which was purely academic given that Kopaka would likely be long gone by then unless I had something to say about it. Oh, and whenever Pohatu wasn't being talked about, the upcoming fight between Tahu and the Porcupine was being trumpeted all over… Apparently, people were working themselves into a frenzy over it, making me all the happier that I wouldn't be in town when it happened. Still, the thought of the world possibly losing another Toa Nuva so soon was, I admit, a worrying one, and between that, attempting to mimic Kopaka's reasoning in an effort to figure out his plan, a few drinks in the catering car, and a quick nap back in the last car in the early hours, the hours went by surprisingly quickly for me.

I woke up again shortly before our arrival in Onu-Koro-Nuva. Looking down towards the back of the car, I noticed Kopaka'd taken a break from his usual meditative trance to clean up his blade. I stretched some, walked over, then sat back down to await the arrival at the station and started thinking of how exactly I could quickly get off, put Jahlpu at ease, and then get back on before the train was on the move again. "The train'll stop only stop for like fifteen minutes, right?" I asked.

"I believe it does," Kopaka answered as he inspected the blade against the light. "However, I have something to take care of in Onu-Koro-Nuva. We will take the next one instead."

"We will?" Another stop was not what I'd expected. Given the current interest in Toa after Pohatu's death, I'd thought that Kopaka was trying to get away as soon as possible, not to loiter around Onu-Koro-Nuva again.

"The train leaving at five would work best," he continued. "It will be easier to get through Ko-Koro-Nuva if we arrive at night." Right, not like I wasn't going to object to him going through… "Until then, put your companions at ease. They likely will have missed your company."

"Of course…" I rolled my eyes. Yeah, he was probably right concerning Jahlpu, but Lerome and Kirall? I doubted it… for all I'd thought about how Kopaka'd changed over the last few days, in reality the same could be said about me and more, and the new me, if that was the right description, didn't care so much for their antics anymore. Still, I was curious to hear their thoughts concerning Pohatu's demise, even if they were likely to be expressed amidst a load of other things that I really didn't care about.

"So, what do you have to do, then?" I wondered.

"Nothing currently of your concern," he dismissed as he stowed away the blade.

"Somehow I doubt that," I complained, but he didn't reply, apparently set on playing his cards close to his chest in a rather frustrating development. By that point, the train was already slowing down and the station was in sight, which more or less cut the conversation short regardless.


	50. Chapter 50

It was still completely dark out when we stepped onto the platform and once again crossed the bridge leading onto Onu-Koro-Nuva's main street. Kopaka'd purposely waited a few minutes to allow the rest of the disembarking passengers to head into town before taking to the street himself.

"I will be back here at five," he informed me.

"I'll be here," I confirmed as he turned and headed down the street. In spite of Onu-Koro-Nuva's round-the-clock schedule, above ground everything was as calm and still as it would've been anywhere else at this hour; the Toa of Ice calmly and resolutely made his way down an empty main street, heading for the entrance to the underground city, still showing signs of a slight limp that no doubt he was trying to suppress. I still wondered what business he was going to attend to, but between an assurance that I would come to know in time and the fact that I had business of my own, I couldn't follow him now. Instead, I decided to wait out Jahlpu and the others in the lobby of the hotel where they'd been staying. I figured it was preferable to disturbing them in their rooms, and busied myself with the breakfast part of the place's 'bed and breakfast' mantra and absentmindedly flipping through a few channels on the lobby telescreen. It took a good hour before, at last, Jahlpu appeared on the second floor balcony.

"Lis!?" he called down just as I was about to doze off again in one of the lounge chairs facing the telescreen. I got up as he quickly made his way down the stairs. "Well, you weren't kidding when you said back as soon as possible…" he commented as he crossed the lobby to my position.

"It was only two stops," I explained, hoping that that was all the detail he would ask for.

"So I take it your friend has left town?" he unfortunately continued, putting a particularly sarcastic emphasis on the word "friend."

"He will soon," I answered, "but I've got a few hours until then. Figured I'd at least drop by to show you I'm alright."

"And thank goodness you are," Jahlpu concluded as he took one of the seats, prompting me to retake mine. "Honestly, you really gotta tell me when you go running off like that."

"It was kind of an emergency," I admitted. "Didn't have time to drop by."

"Emergency?" Jahlpu looked at me curiously. "What in the world were you doing after that tour, sis?"

"Actually, I went and saw Nuparu," I recalled. "We talked for a while, then the emergency arose and I had to head back to New Atero pronto."

"Pronto, huh?" Jahlpu nodded, clearly not quite convinced. "Right… oh, speaking of New Atero, did you hear about what happened?"

"About Pohatu?" I figured that was where he was going. "Yeah, I heard… sad, really." An understatement, given what I knew.

"No kidding," Jahlpu agreed. "He must've been hurting pretty bad after that injury." Oh, he didn't know the half of it. "Well, at least he died peacefully. We're all going to see the ceremony, by the way, whenever it is. You should come, too."

"Don't worry, I intend to," I confirmed.

"Good…" Jahlpu trailed off, his attention drifting to the catering set up across the lobby. "Be right back." He got up to fix what would have to pass for a breakfast while I turned back to the telescreen, now turned to the news channel that I knew Hahli's Chronicler's Report would appear on before too long. At present, promotions for the big fight of the night were filling up the airtime, providing more background on the Porcupine than I was interested in or would've watched voluntarily were it not for the promise of what was to follow. Luckily, the appearance of Lerome and Kirall soon distracted me.

"What up, sis?" Lerome's voice could be heard through the lobby, though it lacked just a little of its usual enthusiasm, no doubt an effect of whatever he was hung over from. I looked up to find the green Toa standing on the second floor balcony, accompanied by Kirall.

"Ah, look who's back," the Toa of Water sarcastically observed.

"Since when do you guys get up early?" I jokingly replied as they made their way down. Lerome did so quickly, holding himself in that light, carefree way I was used to, but my attention was on Kirall, whose movement just seemed a little off before she even reached the stairs. As she made her way down, it quickly became clear what had changed; Kirall had already undergone at least one of the series of questionable procedures that she'd been planning, and was now sporting a… let's say generous pair of hips that'd significantly altered her gait in a way she clearly wasn't used to yet. It was just a bit too tightly controlled, lacking the smooth grace she usually practiced, betraying the fact that she was expending a lot more effort than normal in maintaining a poise and posture. No doubt the heels were no help… Had it not been for the events of the last few days weighing on my mind, I would've struggled not to laugh at the spectacle; as it was, my reaction was more along the lines of exasperated sigh. Vain as ever, Kirall clearly noticed she had my attention, and upon reaching the bottom of the stairs she struck a pose.

"Well?" she enquired. "What'ya think?"

"Progress, huh?" I replied unenthusiastically.

"That's one way to put it," Lerome commented sarcastically as he turned to join Jahlpu at the breakfast counter.

"Oh, they do seriously good work here," Kirall ignored him. "Quality parts, nothing less."

"Must be expensive," I noted.

"Oh, not at all," Kirall smiled as she settled on one of the seats, facing me. "Toa discount."

"Of course…" I sighed. I'd seen plenty of questionable uses of the goodwill towards Toa by my teammates, but this took the cake.

"We're starting work on my shoulders today," Kirall continued. "Lotta stuff to be done there, but I can't wait to see the result."

"Yeah, neither can I…" In reality, I was fast losing interest in her antics, and I was picking up increasingly frustrated vibes from Jahlpu, no doubt because he disapproved even more of the modifications than I did.

"And neither can every Glatorian from here to New Atero," Lerome quipped as he entered the half-circle of furniture facing the telescreen and planted himself on one of the couches, earning a snide look from Kirall as he did so. Following closely behind with a plate and glass, Jahlpu completed the set.

"So, what've you been up to?" Kirall posed the inevitable question to me.

"Uhm… had to run back to New Atero." I attempted without much success to spin up a story. "Friend had to run an errand, I went along."

"Two days on a train for an errand?" Lerome questioned. "Must've been an important one, then."

"It was," I confirmed.

"I take it this friend was the same one as last time?" Lerome deduced.

"He was," I nodded, trying to pass myself off as though nothing had happened even though inside I was begging for the clock to speed up so Hahli's Chronicler's Report would come on and divert their attention.

"Ooh, traveling with company," Kirall's eyes widened. "Is there something more we should know, sis? Running off with the mysterious hooded stranger..."

"No." I shut that down immediately. "I'm not you, and either way, I'd prefer not to talk about it."

"Uh-huh…" Kirall nodded before casting what for her passed as a knowing glance to Lerome, who replied with an eye roll.

"I mean, she is right: she's not you," he repeated to Kirall.

"Too bad," the latter leaned back in her chair, turning back to me. "Seriously, you should have some fun every once in a while. Like you used to."

"That was different, and no thanks." So I found myself once again defending past actions and remembering why I hadn't exactly been jumping up and down to meet my teammates again. Not beyond putting Jahlpu at ease, at least. Of course, the Toa of Earth had nothing to add to the largely insubstantial banter, but there was no doubt in my mind that he was far more interested in what I'd been doing than our brother and sister were. Either way, Kirall's attention soon turned to describing the procedure she'd planned for the day; I mostly nodded and pretended to listen, but in reality my mind was elsewhere, and no doubt the same could've been said of my brothers. Thankfully, it wasn't long until the intro theme of Hahli's Chronicler's Report started playing and all eyes turned to the telescreen. Both Hahli and the mood of the program had clearly recovered compared to the day before, even if the first item on the docket was the formal announcement of Pohatu's memorial service. Hahli mentioned that part two of the special on the deceased Toa's life would come on air shortly after the Chronicler's Report, then led into a segment focusing on Hewkii as, in spite of recent tragedy, he and his teammates were still preparing to play in a Kolhii game to be broadcast during the afternoon. The game, Hewkii explained, would be dedicated to Pohatu's memory. Following that, Hahli passed on the spotlight to Aliesi and the weather. Apparently, New Atero would experience an overcast but otherwise dry day, while we could expect significant rainfall and the residents of Ko-Koro-Nuva had to look forward to thunderstorms.

"Mountain weather," Jahlpu dourly observed. Looking out the windows, we could already see the dark clouds gathering.

"Well, I'd better be off, then," Kirall began as she got up. "Promised I'd be there early. Wanna come?" She directed the question specifically at me.

"No thanks," I declined.

"Aw, c'mon," she continued. "Aren't you the least bit curious? It's really cool how they actually do it." Like I hadn't seen my share of surgery.

"Forge new parts, open you up, replace parts, close you up," I laid out the steps. "I'm fine just seeing the end result, thanks."

"Well, later then," Kirall replied somewhat indignantly, then quickly made her way out.

"Good call," Lerome commented with our sister out of earshot. "I watched when they did her hips, and I don't want to see anything like that ever again."

"It's disgraceful," Jahlpu grumbled under his breath as he got up to put his empty dishes away.

"You actually watched?" I asked Lerome. I found that quite surprising; not like him to sit still and watch something for hours unless the thing in question was a Kolhii match.

"Not much better to do around here," the Toa of Air complained. "These Onu-Matoran aren't much for parties, and neither are the Rock Tribe Agori. Plus their Glatorian are always pissed about something… so, yeah, I've been pretty bored."

"At least you've got a Kolhii game to watch later today," I reminded him.

"No kidding," he sighed. "I need my fix. Anyways… you got plans?"

"Not really," I admitted. "Not much besides watching the special on Pohatu, really."

"We're gonna see his memorial," Lerome noted. "You should come."

"Jahlpu told me, and yes, I'm planning on it," I replied.

"Speaking of, he's found a place," Lerome informed me, gesturing at Jahlpu as the latter returned to our company.

"You actually did, eh?" I remembered him talking about it over the phone the night before, but back then it'd just been tentative.

"Yup," Jahlpu confirmed as he took his seat again. "Pretty nice place, actually, and close to a mine entrance. Dirt cheap." Whether intentional or not, the pun on his element elicited a slight chuckle from me and another eye roll from Lerome.

"Sure the cheap part isn't because it's right next to the mine entrance?" I wondered.

"No doubt, but hey, I'm going to be working in there, so all the better for me," Jahlpu shrugged.

"Fair enough," I conceded. It didn't sound like a place where I'd want to live, but being Jahlpu he'd surely thought it through.

"I can give you a tour later if you want," he offered.

"Later, sure." Why not? Not like I had anything better to do with my day.

"All this talk of domesticity," Lerome complained. "Settling down already? We ain't even seen half this planet yet."

"We all must sometime," Jahlpu replied in a much more serious tone.

"Speak for yourself," Lerome dismissed. "Were it not for our sister, I'd have blown this dump long ago."

"This dump, as you choose to call it, provides half the raw material needed to keep this planet going," Jahlpu shot back, clearly offended by Lerome's disparaging characterization of the place. "I happen to think that I can do something useful by being a part of that."

"Yeah, like they need the help," Lerome grinned as he leaned back and used his control over air to cause the up until now motionless ceiling fan to turn. "It was all going downhill until the arrival of the Toa-hero miner… who showed them how to go downhill even faster."

"Very clever," Jahlpu acknowledged sarcastically, but I could tell his mood was rapidly turning to anger, something which his following words only confirmed. "But hey, what was I expecting? Not like you to actually try to make something out of yourself, or to understand those who are, right? You'd prefer to just recklessly, no stupidly hurl yourself through life."

"Reckless and stupid is fun," Lerome flippantly pointed out, "and I'll prefer that over losing my mind in boredom, kinda like what's happening now."

"Boredom arises from lack of purpose," Jahlpu countered. "How fitting that you are the bored one, then."

"C'mon guys, cool it," I spoke up before Lerome could reply. "Don't tell me I came back just to see you two hurl insults at each other." For a moment, neither replied. "Part two of the special on Pohatu's on in a bit," I continued, "and I'd like to think that the spirit of unity that he represented still holds some meaning. So, please, can you put imaginary differences aside?" Jahlpu sighed, then nodded. Lerome shrugged.

"Whatever." The Toa of Air turned his attention back to the telescreen, and pretty soon Jahlpu and I did the same as part two of the special began. It picked up where the first left off, with a quick recap of the Toa Nuva's visit to Voya Nui, which definitely wasn't the most successful chapter in the team's history; it was best summed up as a series of misunderstandings and miscalculations that led to them being defeated twice, almost killed, and at one point fighting the very Matoran they'd sworn to protect. Apparently, though they acknowledged it had happened, the team had done much to downplay the events in years after, leading to the common misconception that they hadn't actually done much of significance on the island at all and had instead just handed the baton to the Toa Inika upon their arrival. Either way, while the new Toa tasked themselves with actually going after the Mask of Life, Pohatu and the Toa Nuva set about preparing to use it. The events of Voya Nui'd taught them a lesson, though; while the team's adventures before Voya Nui had often seen them splitting up and going off in all manner of different directions, they now actually stuck together, largely on the insistence of Pohatu and, unsurprisingly, Gali. Their quest to retrieve the Staff or Artakha, while not valiantly remembered, was one of their more cohesive and well-executed missions, even if it still nearly resulted in the death of all of them at one point; they were saved only by a last-resort Nova Blast on the part of Gali, an event that I'd seen quite vividly some days before.

Another defining moment, or at least defining as the program presented it, was Pohatu's handling of the Toa's visit to Odina. During negotiations (if that was what they could be called) with the infamous Shadowed One, he largely stuck to the background, preferring to let the official leader of the team do the talking even if he didn't necessarily agree with Tahu's attempts to negotiate with a being so unapologetically evil. Instead, when they left the Dark Hunter fortress without anything resembling a deal, he used his ability to set timed stone traps to cause the place to collapse shortly after the Toa's departure, ensuring the safety of his team while still dealing a serious blow to the organization. It also gave rise to the other Toa's famous characterization of Pohatu's tactics in the form of the phrase "pulling a Pohatu," which Tahu (who'd come on the program both to talk about Pohatu and to boost ratings in light of his appearance in the arena later that day) described as "smashing things and making sure you and your friends are somewhere else when it all goes boom." It was a phrase that, in a lot of ways, really seemed to define the Pohatu the program was painting into the world's memory: a Toa who got things done, one with a no-nonsense approach, a preference for simple, proven ways to deal with problems, and a particular emphasis on the virtue of Unity.

Having made his appearance first to explain the events on Odina, Tahu was subjected to a further live interview with Hahli before the program moved with the history of the Toa to Karda Nui. Seated across from the Toa Mahri of Water in the studio, he looked to have recovered almost completely from his injuries from the week before, his armor and mask polished up to the point where they looked new. By and large, the Toa Nuva of Fire (if he still deserved that title) was asked in bits and pieces to offer some personal insight into parts of history the program'd already covered. Apparently, though, he was there to stay for a while longer, 'cause as Hahli moved along into discussing Karda Nui, he remained to offer some commentary regarding why the Toa Nuva opted to tackle the challenges in the core of the Mata Nui robot in the way that they did, and into the role that Pohatu played in the process. They'd split up into two groups, apparently to more effectively root out the keystones, and Pohatu joined Lewa and Kopaka essentially to search the ceiling of the place. Pohatu distinguished himself several times over in the events of the following days, being alternatingly the mediator and savior of the "Toa Phantoka" as they became known to the local Av-Matoran population. In particular, the way he recognized and stopped his allies from fighting the Toa Ignika was very reminiscent of the way I'd seen him and Gali come between the Toa and Glatorian during the parties' initial, chaotic encounter during the battle for Bara Magna, and his subsequent rescuing of Toa Nuva Lewa from having his light drained at great risk of having the act performed on himself instead also cemented the image of the Toa Nuva of Stone who would lay down his life for his allies at the drop of a hat.

Pohatu's tendency to level-headed reason and fair negotiation even in the face of conflict showed itself again upon the return of Takanuva, whose partial light drain led to others questioning his loyalty; were it not for the fact that the "Toa of Twilight" had revealed himself to Pohatu and Gali first, chances were he would've gotten himself blown out of the sky by his allies. The Karda Nui history concluded with a retelling of the events of what was then considered the final battle, which culminated for Pohatu in his acquisition of a high-speed flying vehicle, which along with two others ensured the Toa Nuva could safely escape the core of the universe as storms caused by Mata Nui's awakening tore everything inside apart. The way Tahu described the battle was vivid, displaying in the Toa of Fire more than a hint of that gift for telling legends that old Turaga Vakama had been so renowned for. However, it was the question on which Hahli ended the interview, and its answer, that became the most memorable part of the program for me:

"First off, thank you for coming here to give us all so much better a look at who Pohatu was," she began, leaving no one in doubt that the end of the program was impending, "and you've already mentioned that you'll be giving a more prepared eulogy at the ceremony next week, but in summary, how would you describe the Pohatu that you came to know through the events we've covered so far?"

"Well…" Tahu began as he gathered his thoughts, "he never proclaimed to be the strongest, the smartest, or in any way superior to anyone, but he was always ready and willing to serve and sacrifice everything for those we swore to defend. We saw that today, and you'll see it again tomorrow, I'm sure, and on top of it all he did it with a sense of humor that made even Kopaka like him; now there's an achievement." The Toa of Fire's rare attempt at humor elicited some chuckles from Hahli and himself. "But, in all seriousness," he continued, "he embodied the virtues better than pretty much anyone I've ever known… As close to a perfect Toa as anyone's ever been. That's about all I can say." Honestly, while it seemed highly hypocritical for Tahu to talk of anything like a perfect Toa, there was a humble sincerity to the way he described Pohatu at the end that was a world removed from the overbearing, larger-than-life personality that the old Toa Nuva of Fire was known for. Apparently, that public personality was carefully crafted for arena fighting, and it was a personality that I wanted to hate, but the Tahu I saw now and that I'd seen that time when Kopaka and I had visited him at home after his last battle was deserving of far more respect than either of us was willing to give him. If anything, the contrast underscored just to what lengths Tahu had had to go to carve out a place for himself in this world, or rather, the lengths that he'd been willing to go to.

"Well, looks like that's it for today," Jahlpu remarked as he got up and stretched. Looking up, I noticed the clock was closing in on eleven as Hahli informed us over the broadcast that this part of the special, like yesterday's, would be re-run on a different channel a few hours later.

"Part three tomorrow," Lerome noted as we followed our brother's example.

"…and we'll be reporting live tonight from his big fight with the Porcupine," Hahli finished the broadcast, segwaying into yet another promotion for the fight of the night. At this point, I turned the telescreen off.

"I'm sure that'll be fun to watch after the Kolhii match," Lerome commented. I considered responding, but decided to spare him my lecture on why I considered it entirely inappropriate for the Toa of Fire to be fighting in the arena. "Speaking of which, pre-game stuff will be starting soon."

"Oh boy…" I sighed. "They don't even leave you time for lunch, do they?"

"Actually, I've got some time," Lerome explained, "so I'm going to run out and grab something now."

"Good idea, actually," Jahlpu agreed. "What's say I show you my new place afterwards?" he turned to me.

"Yeah, sure." I actually was kind of curious.

"Well, that settles it, then," Lerome concluded. "We grab something, I come back here, and you two go check out your little mining hut. What are we waiting for?" With that, he headed for the door. Jahlpu shook his head, I shrugged, and we followed.


	51. Chapter 51

The rain forecast that morning had already begun to fall when we stepped outside, and it wasn't just a small drizzle either; this was a heavy downpour, complete with a dark sky and sounds of thunder in the distance. It was certainly appropriate weather given our collective mood. Having lead the way with at least a modicum of enthusiasm, Lerome immediately stopped under the porch and uttered some expletive at the sight of it.

"So, you guys got any place in mind?" I asked, then added: "someplace close, I hope."

"Through this?" Lerome incredulously gestured out and down the road. The rain was dense enough to reduce the entrance to the underground city to a dark blur in a veil of water.

"Little place down the road is closest," Jahlpu decided unceremoniously. "Come on." He stepped out and led the way; I followed right behind, while Lerome hesitated for a moment before doing the same and then immediately complaining in a rather colorful manner that the rain was cold, prompting Jahlpu to tell him to grow up. The little place down the road, thankfully, had a pretty sizable porch with some tables set up under cover from the elements. It wasn't far, but nonetheless we were pretty drenched by the time we got there.

"Not worth it," Lerome muttered. "So not worth it…" The comments earned him another glare from Jahlpu, after which the Toa of Earth approached the large windowed opening in the façade of the building. Apparently, the place was called Kalmok's, and the menu amounted to cheap travelers' food; various kinds of fried rahi and sandwiches, that kind of thing. We each placed an order, then took seats around one of the tables on the porch. Kalmok's was located almost exactly halfway between the entrance to the rail station and the tunnel to underground Onu-Koro-Nuva, offering an excellent view all the way down the main street, not that there was anything going on outside. Looking around for a while, my eyes eventually fell on the tunnel entrance, where I noticed that the doors to Nuparu's workshop were closed.

"So, did you meet Nuparu yet?" I asked Jahlpu.

"Briefly, yesterday" he answered. "He was preparing to go back to New Atero this morning to help with the upcoming ceremony."

"Hm…" I wondered for a moment what exactly Nuparu's role in planning the event could be. "He was probably asked to help with designing a statue, I bet."

"Pohatu's statue? Probably," Jahlpu agreed.

"I bet they'll put it somewhere watching over a Kolhii field," Lerome added. "It'd be appropriate."

"…and they'll probably name the field after him, and a street or two, and a park, and a building…" Jahlpu listed off in a somewhat sarcastic tone. "The whole kit and caboodle, I'm sure."

"Kit and caboodle?" I questioned.

"Well, anything to get people to remember him again," Jahlpu explained. "I mean, look how quickly they managed to start throwing up a four-part special about him on the telescreen. Guy's not even been dead for two days yet."

"Well, he was important," I pointed out. "I mean, with all he did he deserves a decent memory."

"Yeah, sure, I guess…" Jahlpu kind of shrugged, which to me seemed a bit of a lackluster reaction considering the Toa Nuva of Stone's list of accomplishments. I was about to question him on it when we were interrupted by Lerome.

"Food's here," he called out as three plates appeared on the counter. We retrieved the plates and ate in silence for a while; well, silence if you don't count the sound of constant, heavy rain. We were just about finishing up when, glancing towards the tunnel entrance, I noticed some movement close to the entrance, right around where the side entrance of Nuparu's shop was. A door opened, and just through the rain I could make out two figures exiting the shop… Toa-sized figures. It took me a moment to realize who they were; there were only thee Toa besides us in town that I knew of, and one was probably lying on an operating table. That left only two: Nuparu, unless he'd already left, and… Kopaka.

"See something?" Jahlpu asked, then turned to look where my eyes were already pointed. By that point, however, the two Toa had already turned and headed into the tunnel, disappearing from view.

"Eh… I thought so," I answered, unsure of whether I really wanted Jahlpu to know about it. He was curious enough as it was.

"Probably some Matoran checking on the weather, then," Lerome dismissed. Jahlpu looked at him questioningly. "Well, it's not like you can tell what's up, down, or coming down from deeper in there," the Toa of Air explained mockingly. "Only weather you get in the underground city is darkness with a chance of falling rocks. Who knows? Maybe they've never seen rain before." Jahlpu took a deep breath, likely resisting the urge to make some harsh remark regarding Lerome's own disdain for rain in return. He managed it, but that was the end of the meal as far as he was concerned. He got up and turned to me:

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure." I replied, trying to mask the fact that I was actually rather eager to get going in hopes of catching a glimpse of where Nuparu and Kopaka were headed.

"Well, see you two later then," Lerome mockingly feigned disappointment, earning another death glare from Jahlpu. He got up as I did, but while I followed the Toa of Earth in the direction of the tunnel Lerome opted to make a beeline back to the hotel, no doubt wanting to avoid getting utterly drenched again, not that that was in any way avoidable in rain this thick. Jahlpu kept up a quick pace, too; I had to jog to catch up to him. He slowed down somewhat when he reached the tunnel.

"He's more petulant than ever," the Toa of Earth complained as we started on our way down.

"No disagreement here…" I'd never really thought highly of Lerome's behavior, sure, but boredom did really seem to make him insufferable. Not that I cared much at this point; my attention was focused ahead of us, trying to see if I could catch a glimpse of two Toa as the underground city came into view. Unfortunately, no glimpse was forthcoming, even when I paused to look around as we reached the tunnel's staging area on the outer ring. The city was as busy as it had been last time, with many more Matoran and Agori moving about than before. "Shift change," Jahlpu explained. "Lotta traffic around this time."

"So, where's your place?" I wondered.

"Second ring, north-east," Jahlpu answered. He lead the way as we proceeded across the outer ring to the stairs leading to the one below. About ten minutes later, we arrived on the second ring from the center. This was the one on which most minecart tracks breached the surface, joining a series of elevated lines that ran most of the way around the ring and then upwards, parallel to the road we'd taken down here from the surface. Underneath this industrial network, densely spaced huts not unlike those that made up the poorer regions of New Atero (i.e. where Pohatu'd lived) played host to a sizable and at first glance largely Agori population. The ring's central road was narrow compared to those of the others; workshops and piles of scrap metal occasionally broke up the otherwise monotonous blocks, and areas where the minecart tracks surfaced were fenced off. We got a lot of curious looks as we went along; stares from haggard-looking Agori and the occasional Matoran who no doubt found it strange to see two Toa wandering about in what certainly wasn't that great a neighborhood. After give or take another five minutes or so, Jahlpu turned left off of the ring road and led me through some winding, narrow streets until we reached a dead end on the ring's inner edge, where a fence kept us from going further. Looking through, I could see the innermost ring about fifty or sixty feet below; it was a steep drop-off. To my right, Jahlpu opened the front door leading into a two-story hut built right against the edge.

"Well, here it is," he stepped aside, motioning for me to enter.

"Looks okay so far, if a bit precarious," I noted. The hut appeared to have been made from large, hewn gray blocks, so no doubt it was solid, though definitely designed more for Agori or Matoran than a full-size Toa; I had to lean forward slightly to make it through the door, and inside my head just about touched the ceiling. Jahlpu's larger frame would've caused him even more trouble were it not for the fact that he also possessed some of the hunchback posture typical of his tribe; he could walk about quite comfortably, even if the door was so narrow that he almost had to turn sideways to fit his bulky shoulder assembly through. "A bit small, isn't it?"

"Not really made for Toa, no…" Jahlpu agreed, "but it'll do just fine once I move some sizable furniture in, and the rent's pretty cheap."

"No doubt…" looking around, the place honestly reminded me a lot of where Pohatu'd spent his waning years. The only furniture present at the time was a cupboard with a small, old telescreen in one side of what clearly was the living room, plus a complete if 'lived-in' looking kitchen set in the attached kitchen.

"Best part's upstairs," Jahlpu continued, climbing up a ladder set up in the corner of the room to get to the second floor. "This way." I followed up to what turned out to be an upstairs bedroom, no doubt the only one the house had given how small a footprint it appeared to occupy; seriously, if Lerome and Kirall'd been there with us, the living room would've been overcrowded. Upstairs, though, things looked better. The bed dominated the room inside, but a large opening on the side facing towards the center of the city led to what no doubt was this place's selling point: its terrace. "Not a bad view, hm?" Jahlpu beckoned for me to follow him onto the terrace, where he'd already set up a chair for himself.

"No kidding." Stepping through the opening, I found myself presented with a commanding view of the entire city center below and the statue of Onua rising above it.

"Imagine waking up to this," Jahlpu smiled. "Yeah, the rest of the place isn't much, but who cares when I'll probably be spending most of my time at home up here?"

"Fair point," I conceded. We watched for a bit, him sitting in that chair and me leaning up against the wall on the side of the terrace. Looking at Onua's statue, I found myself wondering what Pohatu's would end up looking like. Something representing one of his signature kolhii moves would've been my choice. "Well, looks like you've got it all pretty well sorted," I concluded.

"Found my place, I think," he agreed. "You know, you should do the same."

"Well, I have found something promising…" I mused, but didn't really want to elaborate too much. Also, while we'd been watching, another worry'd crept into my mind. "Actually, I do have a question."

"Shoot," Jahlpu invited.

"When I left the first time," I recalled, "you know, when we were talking about it, about me not feeling all that great about what we were doing ever since the Skakdi drew back… you mentioned you felt the same. You wanted to come with me, remember?"

"I did," he confirmed.

"Back then, the only reason that you didn't was that you felt responsible for what Lerome and Kirall were up to," I continued. "You wanted to watch over them. Make sure they were okay."

"I did," he confirmed again.

"Well…" I paused a moment to figure out how to word things, "what's changed? I mean, our brother and sister haven't, and they're clearly not staying here with you…"

"I found a place where I actually feel I belong," he interrupted. "I didn't have that before."

"Right, but… you used to talk a lot about that responsibility," I remembered. "You wanted to make sure that they didn't make fools out of themselves, out of Toa, even if that required some sacrifices on your part. What happened to that?" Jahlpu's expression soured considerably.

"Why do you want to know?" he wondered.

"I guess… what they talked about on Pohatu's special today, about how he kept the team together in spite of their issues, their failings…" I attempted to connect what I was worried about with what I'd seen before, with limited success. "I mean, Onua did the same thing, but they all ended up breaking apart anyways. Is our team officially headed the same direction?"

"You're saying I gave up on them?" Jahlpu questioned. "Sounds a bit rich coming from you; you were the first to leave."

"Fair point," I admitted. My misgivings about him staying here and in effect breaking up the team were rather hypocritical given our history... but then again, I was a different person then, too.

"Look… regardless of all that, you're right," Jahlpu sighed and backed off. "Honestly, a big part of this is that I'm done picking up after them, and done with them in general."

"Can't blame you for that," I agreed, though if he was only done with them now he must've had a ridiculously high threshold for how much he could put up with. "I guess we'll have see where they end up on their own." Hopefully, a better place than where the Toa I'd learned so much about over the past week had found themselves post-breakup. Still, my brothers' particular devotion to two of those Toa didn't give me much hope.

"I figured: let them fall and learn to pick themselves up," Jahlpu explained. "Besides, they're not as clueless as you'd like to believe… well, one of them isn't."

"Really?" that somewhat surprised me, particularly given Jahlpu's thinly disguised feelings regarding our teammates.

"Kirall does actually have a plan," Jahlpu explained, albeit somewhat dismissively. "I don't like it, obviously, but turns out she's thought this out a lot more than I believed."

"Kirall? No way." I'd never have listed planning among my sister's virtues.

"No, really," Jahlpu went on, clearly about something that profoundly agitated him. "There was this one night when she and Lerome were drunk out of their minds and for some reason they were talking about when we first became Toa. Get this: she actually campaigned for it."

"Campaigned?" News to me.

"Yeah, she said that, from the moment she realized the Skakdi were going to be troublesome, she made every effort to cozy up to the Turaga," Jahlpu recalled, "all in the hope of being selected to become a Toa. Even mentioned the idea to her on several occasions, apparently. According to her, until she brought up the idea of new Toa, the plan had been to bring the Toa Mahri over from the other side of the planet to deal with things. She was bragging that, in effect, we're all Toa because of her, that there wouldn't have been any new Toa without her."

"…and she said this while she was drunk out of her mind?" I was rather skeptical of the whole thing.

"Well, yes…" Jahlpu admitted, "but have you ever known her to make up stories? Plus, the detail in which she described what all she did to… influence events made it sound a lot more believable." Granted, beyond her pipe dream of being the next Hahli, I'd never credited Kirall with such imagination either.

"Right, but why?" I was still struggling with the idea that our ditsy Toa of Water, of all people, had been pulling so many strings behind the scenes.

"To become a Toa," Jahlpu answered. "I mean, she always wanted to be like Hahli, and Hahli's a Toa, so there was her goal."

"Hahli didn't connive her way into it," I said indignantly. "She's nothing like Hahli."

"Oh, I agree," Jahlpu nodded, "and had I known about it before, I would've done whatever I could to stop it, but she doesn't see it that way…" he sighed again, frustratedly. "Point is, whether I stay or stick with them, she's got some kind of plan, or at least an idea of where she's going. I'm not that worried about her getting lost, well, not any more than she already is, and there's nothing I can do to change that."

"Sheesh, and I thought the title of Toa was losing meaning before…" I grumbled. "I mean, she's just using it now."

"…and I want no part in it," Jahlpu concluded.

"Neither would I," I decided. The very idea of someone becoming a Toa through the means my sister had apparently employed was repulsive. "So the clueless one is Lerome." No surprise there.

"Our glorious leader," Jahlpu said with what for him was quite unbecoming sarcasm. "Like I said, some have to fall to learn to pick themselves up."

"I guess… just, what if he doesn't learn?" I wondered. Given that this was Lerome we were talking about, that was a real possibility.

"Then he'll crash and burn," Jahlpu sighed. "Irresponsibly. Not unlike his hero, I guess."

"Lewa?" I mean, 'crash and burn' did apply there in the most literal fashion, but I knew better than to assume that was the result of irresponsibility alone.

"Exactly," Jahlpu confirmed. "The guy that died in the most reckless, stupid, and avoidable fashion. Still worshiped as a great role model by his people, first and foremost our brother."

"Well, there could've been more to it than that…" I halfheartedly tried to interject. On one hand, I wanted to correct some of Jahlpu's assumptions, but on the other I didn't want to throw out there what Nuparu'd felt so important to hide.

"Actually, that's the whole problem I have with this Pohatu thing," Jahlpu continued, now verging into the territory of a rant. "Yeah, he was a great Toa in his time, probably better than most, but look what he did to himself." Oh, he didn't know the half of it… actually, what did he know?

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"After the reformation, right?" Jahlpu set the scene. "He's helped to put this world back together, he's a great hero, then reinvents himself as a kolhii player. Makes himself a new model for the Po-Matoran. And then he quits. Toa don't quit."

"Well, he got hurt," I pointed out.

"Not important," Jahlpu dismissed. "Toa don't quit. Quitting is giving up on our duty to the Matoran, to other Toa, to this world." The moment that he brought duty into the conversation, his attitude started to rather uncomfortably echo what Kopaka'd given me before.

"The injury was severe, though," I tried to argue, but Jahlpu wasn't having it.

"Yeah, he couldn't play kolhii anymore, but that shouldn't have been the end for him," he countered. "I mean, what kind of example does it set? Push yourself to breaking point, then quit?"

"Could be worse." I mean, at least they wouldn't get to know of the ensuing alcohol-fueled descent into what remained only days ago… again, things I couldn't on good conscience tell Jahlpu about.

"Could be, yes," the Toa of Earth admitted. "But it's emblematic of a problem: whenever this whole multi-part special thing gets to the end of Pohatu's kolhii career, I bet they'll just gloss over the aftermath. They'll spin some story about how he lived out his days in peace, and I'm sure he did, and that was it. No one's going to point out that for what by now is most of the time since the reformation, he might as well have been dead as far as his duty's concerned. Is it a minor thing by comparison to what he did? Yes. But in the same way, those folks we met in Le-Koro-Nuva completely ignore the fact that Lewa's recklessness needlessly cost him his life, and at the rate things are going our brother's set to follow the same path. Venerate them all we want, we're robbing ourselves of the opportunity to learn from our heroes' past failures the moment we bury them. Pohatu didn't know his limits, or I guess he ignored them in a blind pursuit for whatever he wanted to be. Same goes for Lewa, and the farce that Tahu's involved with these days." I would've added Kopaka's unwillingness to acknowledge his limits with respect to surviving in the mountains to that list.

"So, you do still care…" I realized.

"Yes, I do, and I'm worried," Jahlpu added. "But I can't turn Lerome off of this idea of his that Lewa is someone to be unquestioningly imitated, even though I know it could kill him and in the meantime won't provide the clueless fool with much to go on for building a life for himself."

"Isn't… isn't your devotion to Onua the same way, though?" I pointed out what, to me, was fast becoming the kikanalo in the room.

"Name me one thing that Onua did wrong," Jahlpu challenged. It was a challenge I was more than capable of meeting, except… I couldn't say what I wanted to say. "He did everything he could with duty and the Matoran in mind," Jahlpu continued as I faltered, "and though his death was unfortunate, it wasn't like it was untimely, was it? I mean, working in the mines takes its toll on everyone, so yeah, unfortunately Onua didn't get to be around as long as he could've if he'd done something else, but would he have provided as much for the Matoran as he did if he'd done anything else? I don't think so. Onua embodied duty all the way through, which is what sets him apart from the others." In retrospect, from his viewpoint I guess the rant was quite justified… but from mine, it was staggeringly hypocritical. Onua's death was anything but inevitable by the time it came, and his incredible devotion to duty had been exactly what had led him there… suddenly, Lerome wasn't the one I was worried about anymore, and I'd heard more than enough. I wasn't going to show Jahlpu then and there just what exactly the lesson that could be learned from Onua was, but I wasn't going to stick around for much longer either; sooner or later I knew I'd let slip something if I kept listening to the argument Jahlpu was making. After all, it was almost the exact same one that I'd made to Nuparu only two days before, even if my brother lacked some of the knowledge behind it.

"You know, talking about history like this, you sound more than ever like an archivist," I pointed out, trying to change the subject to something I could close on. Archivist had been Jahlpu's old job, and one that he'd never hesitated to point out hadn't been his favorite.

"You know, maybe I do," Jahlpu gave a slight chuckle as the tension seemed to diffuse somewhat. "I guess trying to draw lessons from history is kind of my thing…" no kidding. He'd studied extensively what it meant to be a Toa upon his selection to become one, trying to use history to prepare himself for what was ahead. Again… in light of this and with what he knew, what he'd said was more than justifiable. It definitely raised some serious questions on the notion of 'making legends' as a justification for Kopaka's actions concerning both himself and Pohatu, ones that I'd definitely have to pose to the Toa Nuva of Ice when we met up again.

"And maybe they'll address it," I shrugged.

"Maybe, but I'm not holding out hope," Jahlpu conceded. A short, awkward silence followed.

"I should be going," I eventually got up. "Got a few things to check on, but I'll be back tomorrow, probably."

"Probably?" my brother questioned. "You know, you really have to tell me what you're up to at some point… I do worry."

"Oh, I'm well aware," I confirmed. "don't worry, I'll be fine… and I'm sure I'll be able to tell you at some point. Just… now." In reality, I'd have to tell him a lot more, but there was the matter of Kopaka to settle first.

"I hope so." Jahlpu got up, then motioned for me to follow him downstairs. Soon, we were standing outside and he was locking the door again. He explained that he was planning to find and bring back some furniture to officially move in after the memorial service in New Atero. That said, there was nothing that was stopping him from looking around for stuff now, which was his plan for the rest of the afternoon. I considered coming along, but decided against it in favor of wandering about on my own in vain hope of stumbling into Kopaka and Nuparu, or whoever else he was with. So, after a 'goodbye for now,' we went our separate ways into the city… but he'd still left me with much to think about.


	52. Chapter 52

I didn't find Kopaka or Nuparu, of course. I probably wouldn't have even if I'd had a week to do nothing but look for them, especially given that Kopaka wasn't keen on me accompanying him on this particular errand. At least this time I felt a lot more confident that he'd be back than when he'd left me to watch over Pohatu. Having made my way back to the main road connecting all of the rings of the city, I spent pretty well over an hour wandering about parts of the upper rings adjacent to it all looking for him all the same, and I got a good idea of what daily life in the city was like. By two in the afternoon, however, I found myself back at the exit leading to the surface and feeling like I'd seen enough of the place. With little better to do, I decided to head back to the hotel and bide the remaining three hours there. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, and activity had picked up somewhat, though obviously not to the level of below. Arriving in the hotel lobby, I wasn't much surprised to find Lerome sprawled over one of the couches, watching what looked like Kolhii pre-game discussion.

"They haven't started yet?" I took a seat across from the Toa of Air.

"Nope." His answer was accompanied by a hand gesture that he apparently gave up on halfway through. "Just still talking about what might happen."

"Got any predictions?"

"Not really," he sighed. "We'll see."

"Aw, not even a hint?" I tried to tease something out of him, more a reflection of my own boredom than any real interest. Normally, asking for predictions regarding these games was a surefire way to send Lerome into an excited and lengthy monologue comparing all manner of qualities of both teams, culminating eventually at a seemingly bullet-proof prediction. It often wouldn't be, of course… but still, apathy was the last thing that I expected from him on anything Kolhii-related.

"Nope." He dismissed any further analysis.

"Okay then." I gave in, and we watched for a while as a couple of Matoran hosts unpacked the past strategies and performances of both Hewkii's team and their opponents. At one point, one of them screwed up in a way that even I, someone who followed the Kolhii scene only in a very casual manner at the best of times, recognized, but even this normally inexcusable gaff didn't get so much as a chuckle or snide comment from my brother. If anything, his unusually listless demeanor was making me wonder just how bored he'd been for the past few days. "Tired?" I asked him.

"Tired of this place," he answered without looking over.

"Won't be much longer," I reminded him. "You'll be among more festive company soon enough. Well, after the funeral."

"True…" he acknowledged half-heartedly. We turned our attention to the telescreen again just as they switched to a pre-game interview with Hewkii, who made sure to remind everyone in whose memory the game was being played: Pohatu.

"Today, we'll dedicate this game to the memory of that Toa who pushed to bring out the best in all of us…" Hewkii began his inspiring address. Again, Lerome seemed little moved even though one of his heroes was on screen.

"You ever watch him play?" I asked. For all I'd heard about it, I'd never actually seen Pohatu play kolhii; his retirement had come before I'd even been built, and I wasn't sure whether or not the same held for Lerome.

"Hewkii?" my brother questioned.

"No, Pohatu," I corrected him.

"Ehm… once," he remembered. "Like, one of the first games I went to."

"What was it like?" I wondered out loud.

"Pretty good, I guess," he shrugged. "He did have some impressive moves. Too bad they broke him."

"Do you think he should've left?" I surprised myself by asking, but hey, I had time to kill.

"Like, his retirement?" My brother paused for a moment; I nodded in confirmation. "I guess he could've stayed, but I wouldn't have, you know?"

"Why not?"

"What else could he do?" Again, a half-hearted hand gesture hinted at Lerome's frustration.

"Coaching," I pointed out.

"Wouldn't feel the same," he argued. "Not after being the star. Nothing's like being the star." I'd seen something of Kopaka and Onua's attitudes reflected in Jahlpu now that the latter was settling down, and had found it less than comforting. With this statement, Lerome basically nailed his Toa Nuva hero's suicide note in his own words.

"Having spent my life at the summit, I can't be happy anywhere else…" I recalled the way Lewa'd put it. Unfortunately, I did so out loud, much to my consternation.

"Yeah, that," Lerome nodded. "Without the use of his legs, what was he gonna do that compared to that, right?"

"Sure, yeah, I can see that," I hastily reasserted myself. In retrospect, I shouldn't have worried so much; no way Lerome could put together that what I'd said were actually Lewa's words.

"After a life at the summit, there's no way down…" he gloomily trailed off, turning his attention to the telescreen again. I did the same, but as so often lately a worrying thought crept into my mind: why did that phrase seem to resonate so much with him now? True, my brother had a reputation for being a bit annoying at times, but more due to his irresponsibility than the petulance that had been evidently on display today. Was there more than boredom behind it? With Lerome, I figured the best way to find out was to be more direct about it; nuance and metaphors weren't really his thing.

"Do you feel that way sometimes?" I asked him.

"Hm?"

"Like we've been at the summit, and now there's no way to go but down," I explained. He took a moment to think.

"I guess," he shrugged. "I mean, we've done the Toa things, and now there's none of that left to do, so yeah, it does kinda feel that way: like there's no place you'd really like to go."

"We'll all find something," I began before realizing that, so far as I knew, Lerome was the only one of us who had yet to do so, making it very much a case of 'easy for you to say.'

"Maybe, but what?" he asked. "Yeah, Jahlpu's all happy here, and Kirall's doing… whatever she's doing, but they had plans already, you know?"

"Didn't you? This whole 'tour the planet' thing was your idea, wasn't it?" I recalled. Of course it'd been his plan: only he would've come up with it. "Last I checked, you still had plenty of planet to cover."

"Yeah, but… it's over now," Lerome admitted. "I mean, it was meant to be a tour as a team, like a bonding road trip, you know? We all barely knew each other by the time the Skakdi were done, so I thought: hey, let's have some fun and see the world while we're at it." Honestly, even that thought was more than I normally credited him with concerning how he came up with that tour plan in the first place, but at the same time, calling it a bonding trip for a still fledgling team was probably the most positive spin one could put on his activities for the last month or so. "So we did it for a while, had some great times, then you left and we're all like 'okay, fine' and moved on to Le-Koro-Nuva and had more great times… but it wasn't the same, you know? We didn't have the whole team anymore." He looked my way as though he believed I had some kind of explanation.

"Yeah, but it wasn't like I was all that into it by that point," I reminded him. "I mean, eventually the parties get to be too much, and I wanted to find… something. Something else to do, something that made me feel better about myself. Something Toa-worthy."

"And did you?" he sat up.

"Yeah… yeah, I think I did." I mean, given that as Toa we were practically walking reminders of history anyways, I figured recovering and preserving history wasn't a bad idea.

"What is it?" he asked with some revitalized interest.

"Oh it's… uhm," I tried to piece together a way to describe it without bringing in the fact that I'd be doing it with other Toa, some of whom Lerome'd practically be dying to meet. "It's an expedition someone's planning. Recovering artifacts and such."

"Really?" Apparently the word "expedition" triggered his interest as much as the mentioning of the name of any of his heroes probably would've done. "Where at?"

"Oh, it's not exactly your kind of thing," I dismissed. "Underwater."

"Underwater? Ugh…" Lerome feigned a shudder. "Didn't pick you for the swimming type, sis."

"I'll probably get a Kaukau," I explained. "That's solve the major problem, at least."

"Yeah, that'd work…" my brother's attention drifted off again for a moment.

"So the tour's over?" I asked, already knowing the answer but seeking to keep the conversation going all the same.

"Yeah…" he admitted. "I mean, let's be honest: I can't afford it on my own anyways, and now that everyone's gone off and done their own thing there's not fun in it anymore. The Super Epic Toa Team is dead."

"We should've come up with a better name," I remarked.

"We shouldn't have been needlessly made Toa," Lerome corrected, suddenly with a bitter tone in his voice.

"What, you don't like it?" Tahat was news to me.

"It was fun for a while, but now it seems so… pointless, you know?" he continued. "In the end, all we've gotten is more pressure to do something… what'd you call it?"

"Toa-worthy?" I attempted to fill the gap, still kind of marveling at Lerome showing much more of a conscience than I thought he had.

"Yeah, that." He leant back in his seat. "We can't be Matoran anymore. We're not Matoran anymore. We're supposed to defend the Matoran, and if the Matoran don't need defending we… well, what do we do?"

"We try to be something better to the Matoran," I concluded before making what at this point had to be a colossal understatement. "I mean, I've thought about this a lot…" I paused for a second to think about it some more, "and the best conclusion I can draw is that if the Matoran don't need warriors, we'll be leaders. Examples. People they look up to, 'cause, you know, that's what they do when there's Toa around."

"Literally," Lerome smirked.

"Yeah…" I felt his flippant remark rather undercut the point I was trying to make, but went on: "take Jahlpu: he's not doing anything that'll protect the Matoran, but he's going to lead the way down there in the mines, and you know he's going to work hard at it. In doing so, he'll inspire many Onu-Matoran to do the same, 'cause they want to be like the Toa of Earth, and that's worth something. Worth quite a lot, I'd say." Of course, I left out how that'd worked out for the last Toa of Earth who'd made the mine itself his life's work, but that was a point to be made to Jahlpu, not here.

"They already have someone to look up to, though," my brother argued, "again, quite literally." He mimed the position of the massive statue of Onua's arms.

"True, but Onua's not around anymore," I pointed out, "and maybe they could use a fresh reminder, and one who many of the younger ones relate to more."

"Onua 2.0 for a new generation," Lerome smirked again.

"By the same token you could be the Lewa of this generation," I suggested, momentarily ignoring how that'd worked out for Lewa.

"Be head party animal of Le-Koro Nuva?" Lerome asked incredulously. "I know you ain't been there, sis, but let me tell you: those guys already know how to throw a party." Yeah, he probably had a point there, and one that for the moment I really didn't have that much a reply to. He sighed again, his spirit returning to earth. "Anyways… even Lewa was more about the adventure, and he didn't leave much for anyone else, you know? Besides, he knew how to survive out there, and I… well, I don't. And before all that he saved a universe; how could I live up to that?"

"He helped save a universe," I corrected, "and with that comparison you're blaming yourself for not existing in a universe in need of saving. I'm glad that we don't. You're looking way too far." Even he should've seen that.

"Too far?" he questioned, sounding a bit frustrated. "Okay, try this for closer: he got along with people, and led exploration teams that went out for years at a time. I couldn't even keep four Toa together for more than a month." He momentarily widened his eyes and opened his hands for emphasis; it took a moment for what he said to sink in for me, but once it did, I suddenly understood where he was coming from, what all his behavior added up to. This wasn't Lewa I was looking at, no, I was seeing hints of Gali, hints in how much more significant the breakup of his Toa team was to him than to the other members, myself included. When the Toa Nuva broke up, Gali couldn't move on like the other Toa did, not after everything she'd done to keep the team together… and while our team had existed for only weeks in its entirety, in his way Lerome had tried to fill a similar role while being the de facto leader to boot. Now that the team had disbanded, he more than any of us was left feeling empty and unsure of who or where to turn to, or worse blamed himself for the breakup of the team, even if he wasn't that great at articulating it. In Gali, that empty feeling manifested as depression; in Lerome, it manifested in mood swings and general juvenile behavior to mask the insecurities underneath. Generations apart we may have been, but the more I thought about it, the more the problems we were encountering were the exact same ones the Toa Nuva had struggled with thousands of years ago, when they went their separate ways. Having made that connection, I suddenly realized what to tell him.

"No one could've kept us together for long," I began, remembering what Kopaka'd told Gali the night before. "After the Skakdi, there was no reason for the Super Epic Toa Team to exist, and even Lewa or Pohatu couldn't have done anything to stop that if they were here; if they had been able to, don't you think they would've stopped the Toa Nuva from breaking up first?"

"Uhm, yeah, I guess…" Lerome voiced his thought process in all its uncertainty.

"For that matter, it's not like Hewkii and the Toa Mahri are all together all the time either," I continued, gesturing at the Toa Mahri of stone on the telescreen. "They split apart because, without the need to defend the Matoran to unite them, they all had different paths to take. That's what's happening to us now: we have different paths to take."

"Their paths led them to broken backs and death by volcano and tunnel collapse," Lerome pointed out grimly.

"Yeah, some of them did, but that's where we can learn from them and not make the same mistakes," I argued. "And yes, it might be a while before you feel as great about things as when we were all doing the planet party tour, but if a former assistant weaver can find something meaningful to do as a Toa, then I'm sure you can."

"Yeah, if you put it like that it sounds easy," he agreed without much enthusiasm, "but I won't have you or Jahlpu around to constantly dispense wisdom for me along the way."

"Give it time," I advised. "Also, just because our paths are different now doesn't mean they can't cross every once in a while." For a moment, there was no reply beyond a shrug.

"You do have a way with words," he eventually gave in; a slight smile reappeared on his face.

"Yeah, I'm proud of that one," I admitted, juxtaposing the pride in words with indifferent hand gestures. The cloud hanging over us was clearing… well, the mood anyways, as a sudden crack of thunder outside reminded us that real clouds still very much dominated the sky outside, now once again pouring heavy rain as they had earlier in the morning. Spirits lifted, we watched as the kolhii match finally got underway. It started off slow, but it wasn't long before some of the moves that Pohatu'd made famous started to show on Hewkii's team, though not enough to get them a decisive point lead over the course of the first half hour. Only after the half-time break did the pace of the game reach the frenetic point that really made it entertaining to watch, if only for the challenge of tracking the ball while it traversed the entire length of the field multiple times per minute through heavy offensive play on both sides. My eyes frequently diverted to the clock, however, and it was right about three-quarters through the match when it was about to strike five.

"Looks like I gotta go," I explained as I got up.

"Aw, you're not gonna stay for the ending?" Lerome questioned with somewhat sarcastic disappointment.

"I'll be back, definitely before the funeral," I assured him, "but I've got to take care of something first."

"Alright, but don't drown out there," Lerome quipped. Outside, the rain was coming down harder than ever before; I paused for a moment on the porch to look up and down the street, but initially I spotted no signs of life. Only when I looked closer did I see a figure standing motionlessly by the entrance of the railway station through the veil of water. Knowing there was no real cover from the heavens between where I was and the train that was undoubtedly waiting somewhere in the gray space beyond what the rain allowed me to see, I resigned myself to getting drenched either way and headed for the station. The figure was indeed Kopaka, cloaked and still equipped with the stick he was using as a cane, standing there as though to prove that rain made no difference to him, an act of defiance against the obvious that in retrospect was but the most harmless example of such behavior on his part.

"Careful, you'll rust," I pointed out once I reached the station in an attempt to make light of the miserable weather. He turned and headed for the ticket booth without comment, and I followed right behind. The Agori manning it made some quip about the rain as well before asking where we'd like tickets to, only to be presented with what remained of the tickets to Ko-Koro-Nuva that Kopaka'd gotten several days before in New Atero; we'd never taken the second leg of the trip, and having confirmed that we were still eligible to board the Agori sent us on our way towards the train. It was virtually empty, to the point where Kopaka only seemed to bother with moving all the way to its last car as a matter of habit or principle than for any practical reason. Completing the stubborn behavioral pattern was the fact that he made no attempt to dry himself off whatsoever once we finally sat down, though in fairness he'd have been a pretty terrible Toa of Ice if he'd found being cold and occasionally wet to be worth complaining about. All the same, I felt compelled to ask:

"Cold?"

"No," he curtly replied.

"Ah… is this where I get to see whatever plan you've come up with?" I got down to business.

"No." Apparently, it was not the time for business, but at some point within the next six hours, it had to be; that was how long we had before reaching Ko-Koro-Nuva… and therefore, how long I had to think of the best way to argue against him going any further.


	53. Chapter 53

Had this been the day before, or even earlier on the day it was, I would've probably been content just to let Kopaka retreat into his practiced isolation again and to let him reveal his plan in due time. However, 'due time' was running out fast; with only a few hours left to work with, I had to figure how to present my case as to why he shouldn't leave in a way that wouldn't lead to him just shutting it down immediately, as was his automatic response. Past experience left me under no illusions that it would be easy, but on the other hand, if anyone had a shot at accomplishing this, it had to be me. After all, given that he'd waited for me before it was clear that Kopaka intended to involve me in this plan of his somehow, and that fact alone proved that he trusted me more than he did most. Also, he'd already taken my opinion into account and actually changed his plan because of it once… so I had to figure out a way to take the shot. Hey, maybe he'd even figured out a way to not have to leave but still satisfy that need for solitude of his. Of course, going in directly wouldn't work, because in his current mood he'd just say "stop" and that would be it. True, I could circumvent that too, but I preferred to leave the psionic toolbox closed for now. That left figuring out a roundabout way to get into the Toa of Ice's head as my only real option, which meant… getting him to talk about something else. True, he wasn't prone to giving out more than he meant to in conversation, but there was a chance that maybe he'd say something that hinted at his plan if I asked the right questions, and it was a chance I decided to take. Besides, it wasn't like the events of the day hadn't already given me some topics to bring up.

"So, I visited with my teammates for a while," I began, "and it looks like our team's breaking up." I waited a moment for a response; Kopaka glanced up, but didn't say anything. No comment yet, apparently, so I pushed on. "I guess I should've known that it was going to happen sooner or later, but I never figured it'd be so sudden… it's like Jahlpu pretty much decided to jump the ship the moment he got to Onu-Koro-Nuva, and Kirall was apparently doing her own thing all along; never would've thought she had a plan going through all this." Again I paused to give him a chance to comment. It was a chance that he did not take, though I definitely had his attention to at least some degree. "Well, I learned something about all of them, to be honest." I leant back, trying on purpose to appear to be rambling more absent-mindedly than I really was. "Just… the way we all responded to the team breaking up, like you all did. I think it says a lot about us. Like me; I figured I would've felt more, but then it's not like I was really a part of the team anymore anyways. Maybe I didn't really want to be. Also, Jahlpu actually was pretty happy about finally getting a chance to leave."

"Unsurprising," Kopaka commented dryly. Right, we were going with Jahlpu for a bit.

"Yeah, he's going to work in the mines," I elaborated. "He's really trying to be like his hero, like Onua; devotion to duty and all. Honestly, I'm actually kind of worried that he'll… well, you know." Kopaka didn't respond, but I had to keep this going. "We actually talked for a while about the whole heroes thing, though," I recalled. "Specifically, how we remember them: making them legends. It's weird, 'cause he doesn't know anything about what really happened at the end with Onua, or Lewa for that matter, but when we were talking about the specials they're doing for Pohatu he went on this whole spiel about how we shouldn't just remember what made him a hero. He said that we should remember the mistakes too, so we can learn from them."

"Your brother was an archivist at one point, was he not?" Kopaka questioned.

"Yes, he was," I acknowledged, wondering for a moment where exactly he'd gotten that information from, "so… I guess it's not that surprising that he'd raise that point. It's just… it was hard to listen to him, with him trying to be like the new Onua and all, because it sounds so hypocritical in a way. He's talking about remembering and learning from the mistakes of those gone before us, and yet it he knows his own hero as nothing but that paragon of virtue that everyone's elevated him to. And it's not like Onua didn't deserve that, and of course Jahlpu doesn't know just how odd it sounds for him to talk about remembering people like that, but still… for a bit there, I really wanted to tell him that his hero wasn't exactly flawless in the end either, you know?" Kopaka gave no indication of knowing, yet I didn't doubt that he did. "I guess… I'd like to know what you think about it." I decided to put the ball in his court, hoping that he'd bite. He did.

"We have had this conversation before," he pointed out, "and we came to a conclusion, did we not?"

"We did," I recalled. "You told me to stick with what Nuparu was doing; not letting the story get out."

"My position has not changed," he said flatly.

"Okay, but we didn't have a real example back then, did we?" I argued. "No one who really took after Onua's legacy in this way, no one was actually running the risk of eventually working themselves to death like he did while thinking of it as a virtue."

"Nothing has changed," Kopaka replied with conviction.

"Nothing at all?" his outright dismissal of Jahlpu as an example kind of surprised me. Then again, was I trying to push that example a little further than my brother's situation really warranted? "Yeah, I guess I could be overthinking the danger somewhat, but that doesn't mean that absolutely nothing's changed," I decided.

"It does," Kopaka maintained. "When we last spoke of this we were talking purely about the costs and benefits as they applied to the Matoran. Your brother is not a Matoran."

"No, but that shouldn't make that big a difference when they're all taking after Onua so much, should it?" The difference didn't immediately hit home to me.

"Even the most delusional Matoran cannot fool themselves into thinking that they can match what Onua did," Kopaka explained in a lightly agitated monotone. "The best they can do is to try to live up to the virtues he represented, which is as it should be. Your brother, on the other hand, is a Toa. To him and to others, the notion that he can live up to Onua's legacy is not an impossible one. His enthusiasm for Onua is no more or less than that of any Onu-Matoran; the only difference lies in the fact that he can reach for my brother's star, while they can only admire it from afar. However, it is unlikely that he will be so blinded by its light that he cannot see the danger of pushing himself too far, and Nuparu is still making every effort to ensure that the mechanism by which Onua met his end is no longer available for others to abuse. Yes, you are overthinking the danger. Nothing has changed." So, with what in person amounted to a borderline rant, he'd shut it down; he had a point, he'd made it, and to be honest my concern with Jahlpu probably hadn't really been an objective one to begin with. Still, I didn't think that that rendered said concern as invalid as Kopaka apparently considered it to be.

"I suppose it's easier to be worried when someone you know's involved," I admitted, "but still, I'd feel a lot better if Jahlpu had some kind of warning… just, anything to tell him not to let that quest for duty consume him. Actually, I'll probably bring it up to Nuparu at some point." That sounded like a much better plan. Of course, it also meant that I'd just accidentally closed off the topic in pretty much exactly the way that Kopaka probably wanted me to, and he definitely hadn't given me anything related to what I was actually looking for. So, I'd have to change the subject slightly and try again: "By the way, there was something off with Lerome as well. He's… he's behaving a bit differently."

"Not as excitable, I take it," Kopaka correctly if half-heartedly asserted. He clearly wasn't all that enthusiastic about the plan of chatting about what my teammates were up to, but he hadn't shut it down yet either. I started thinking that maybe a bit of frustration would lead him to reveal something by accident. In fact, given what choice words he'd said about Lerome in the past, the antics of the Toa of Air would probably drive his mood downwards more quickly than talking about Jahlpu'd done.

"Yeah, more like lost," I noted. "Now that the team's broken up and all, he's not sure where to go, and given that he was the leader I think he feels like he's responsible for it."

"Is he not?" Kopaka questioned with a tone that indicated quite clearly that he believed he was.

"In a way, maybe, but it's not like it was his intended outcome, you know?" It wasn't often that I actually found myself defending Lerome's intentions, and even here I wasn't fully committed to it, but if that was what it took to get something more out of Kopaka, I'd play Makuta's advocate all day. Okay, maybe not so much Makuta after earlier, but still.

"Gali's intent was not to drive the Toa Nuva apart," Kopaka coldly reminded me, hitting the exact same comparison that I'd realized earlier, "and yet that is exactly what she did. The intent differed, but actions, not intent, produce consequences."

"I know, and that's why I'm worried," I continued. "Lerome's not Gali, but this breakup thing is hitting him way harder than it should. It was like he suddenly didn't care about anything anymore."

"I am certain that it made him more tolerable company," Kopaka made what for him probably passed as a joke, though the delivery was as deadpan as ever and it felt more like a sign of a continuously decaying mood than any joviality on his part.

"It did, but it's not really like him," I continued after a moment's pause, "and I told him basically what you told Gali, that it wasn't his fault and all. He perked up a little, but… I don't know, I guess he still lacks direction, you know?"

"A Toa who lacks direction, who misuses his powers, and who has little knowledge or respect of the title," Kopaka listed off some of Lerome's apparent issues. "Does he remind you of anyone?"

"Who?" No one came to mind at first.

"You."

"Me?" That caught me by surprise. Yeah, I'd seen those issues in Lerome quite clearly, but I'd never really considered… myself.

"You, one week ago, when you chose to come with me," he elaborated. "You said you had no place better to go than to follow me. You used your powers to merely satisfy curiosity and without regard for the consequences. You had heard of the virtues, yet knew not their meaning. You may not share your brother's flamboyance, but you certainly shared his lack of direction."

"If you put it like that, yeah…" I couldn't really disagree, but I'd seen and learned a lot since then. "I'm not all like that anymore, though," I argued. "I've got a place to go now, and I've barely done any mind reading since we left New Atero the first time, and then always with permission."

"So you have," Kopaka nodded. "However, you have seen much that your brother has not."

"So, I should show him what I saw, then," I concluded. "If I don't want him to be as lost anymore, I guess… Show him what a Toa can do in a world that doesn't need any."

"Perhaps you should consider that," Kopaka added, clearly intent on having that be the end of the conversation for the time being, but I couldn't quite let that happen yet, not when he'd shut down this avenue of approach even faster than he had the last.

"I guess that'd mean taking him to meet Hewkii," I interpreted. "I mean, he idolizes the guy, and Hewkii's at least found a place for himself now, so he could probably advise Lerome better on how to do the same." Again, Kopaka gave a nod in the affirmative, and again he was content to leave it at that. "And no doubt he'd be excited about it, too… probably more than I'd like to handle." I trailed off as I tried to think of other things I'd seen over the journey that would be particularly useful in giving Lerome some direction to go. It took a while before I got back to what I'd been trying to do in the first place; getting something out of Kopaka regarding his future plans. Unfortunately, this time I couldn't think of a great way to get back on track or proceed further. I didn't see much point in bringing up Kirall, since my opinion of her definitely hadn't improved, and Kopaka'd already answered the two main concerns I had to work with so readily that I could've sworn he had the answers prepared beforehand. While I'd started the conversation with the intent of eventually turning it towards the question of him leaving, hoping that the indirect approach would increase the chances of him actually providing an answer on it or at least something related to it, he'd instead maneuvered through it in such a way as to answer the questions he was willing to without providing any apparent springboard into ones that he didn't. I'd tried to play him, but had gotten played as much in return…

Actually, given his usual disregard for how others felt and how little he'd seen of or cared for Lerome, I thought it kind of strange that Kopaka'd so quickly and accurately managed to paint a picture of just what lay beneath my brothers' behavior… yet at the same time, had he not done the exact same thing to me from the moment I first approached him? I mean, even when I talked to him about things that he wasn't present for, all too often it seemed like he had the right answer at hand the whole time, like he knew what I was going to ask long before I actually asked it. That idea, in turn, started me wondering just to what extent he'd psycho-analyzed me throughout the journey even as I'd been trying to decipher him in the exact same way, breaking my behavior down into causes and effects that he understood, even if he didn't always approve of them. Was that… was that part of why he'd let me come along? Some kind of curiosity?

I kept thinking on that for a while, trying for the first time to really figure out just what exactly had led this most aggressively solitary of Toa to let me of all people accompany him for as long as he had, and even to answer my questions just as he had now. In particular, there was something about his reaction when I described how I'd changed my behavior from when we first met... It was slight, as everything emotional with him was on the outside when he wasn't pushed too far, but still I was confident now that there really was something of an element of pride in there. Was he proud of me for something, or did he just feel pride about what he'd accomplished in me? I mean, maybe leading someone who he'd identified at first as lost and confused through a series of events to show them what being a Toa really meant held an element of satisfaction for him. And yes, in retrospect I'd learned a lot, though his instruction had been only part of it and often offered only grudgingly or when explicitly asked for. It was a combination of all the Toa that I'd seen, met, and what I'd discussed with them that had caused me to change my view about what it meant to be a Toa and how to be one in this world, Kopaka included… so how much did he credit himself? For that matter, how much of that was intended, especially when as all evidence indicated the return trip to New Atero hadn't been planned beforehand at all? Suddenly, I had another topic to go off of.

"Was that the point of all this?" I spoke up. It took a moment before Kopaka looked up; it'd been a while since I'd last said anything, and he didn't immediately reply. "For you, I mean," I explained. "I mean, I've been thinking about it; when I first walked up to you, when I introduced myself and figured out who you were, did you decide then and there that while you were on this trip, you might as well… teach a lost Toa a thing or two about who they were?"

"Perhaps," he answered unusually vaguely, another signal of his reluctance to actually do some teaching or any divulging of information at this hour.

"Perhaps? You don't do 'perhaps,'" I pushed on.

"The Matoran would benefit more from a Toa with some understanding of the history of her kind than they would have from one utterly lacking it," he replied harshly. "Therefore, while I had intended to spend the journey alone, I saw fit to answer your questions in spite of your insolent behavior."

"Insolent?" I hadn't quite gone that far, had I?

"Well, newsflash, I can read minds," Kopaka quoted me in response, adding a cocky edge to his voice to drive home just how brazen a declaration it was; to someone dead-set on being left alone those words and the attitude behind them had to be intensely frustrating to encounter.

"Oh right, that…" I hadn't even thought at the time of what it sounded like.

"You were very persistent in your pursuit of answers," Kopaka added, "and very disrespectful in your wanton use of your powers to get them."

"I've learned since then, though," I defended myself, "in part due to what you told me, like you said earlier. I don't just do that anymore. I just… I want to know whether you saw how far this would go back then." He waited a little while before replying, and for a moment I feared that he'd decided to shut me out again in response to a question whose answer he felt would reveal too much. No doubt the idea occurred to him, but thankfully he decided against it.

"No," he eventually admitted. "Your curiosity was evident and infuriatingly insistent, but to your credit you did learn." Coming from him, that had to be a high compliment, and it was a great feeling to get some credit, even approval, even if it didn't exactly start like a glowing review of my behavior.

"Well, thanks bringing me along then, even if it took all of your patience." I gave a slight smile in relief. In fact, I was pretty sure it'd taken all of his patience and more, considering that he had lost it several times along the way and even now he'd started with a pretty scathing comment on my behavior. It was also relief for a second thing, though: I'd spotted my opportunity, or rather I suddenly recalled something else I'd asked him earlier that presented an opportunity for a slightly more direct approach. "For all I've learned, though, there's still something I'd like to know," I continued. Kopaka gave no visual indication of approval or disapproval, so I went on: "Before we got back to Onu-Koro-Nuva, you promised me something. I asked you whether you'd at least consider not going back to the mountains, with everything that's happened since the last time we had the argument. You said you would; did you?" If he was going to shut down the conversation anywhere, I figured it'd be here… but he didn't.

"I did," he admitted, giving me hope only to immediately take it away: "but that part of the plan has not changed."

"Why not?" I pressed on.

"As I said then, I have already made my reasons clear," he repeated the same old refrain.

"Being a legend, doing your duty, I know," I sighed, "but there's something more than that. That thing, that part of you that I saw as Shadow Kopaka, it is part of it. It has to be. It still just doesn't compute…"

"Enough… enough for now," he decided. Even the momentary mention of Shadow Kopaka was now enough to shut him down, but there also was a small yet significant delay. Had my change in tactics or persistence in bringing up the issue again and again finally begun to plant doubts in his mind? If so, now really wasn't the time to stop, was it?

"You considered it, though," I reminded him, "you at least considered not going back. You know, I'm not the only one that's changed over this week…"

"Lis, I said enough!" he suddenly cut me off in a much sterner tone, now in conjunction with that piercing gaze. Earlier in the day, that would've lost some of its impact, but after his description of how he saw me back when we first met, its unnerving edge had returned in the guise of something like an intent look of disapproval. Either way, it left me with no illusion that I was going to get anywhere beyond planting doubts at this point.

"Okay, fine… enough for now," I reluctantly conceded, prompting Kopaka to return his eyes to the floor and pretty much immediately retreat back into his inner space. To most, he would have appeared to be merely sleeping, but even without trying I could tell that there was much activity going on below the surface. Still, out of respect for the discussion we'd just had, I refrained from attempting to tap into whatever he was thinking about. I was content enough just to bide my time for a while, even though he had now confirmed what I'd already feared: he was still planning on going back up there. On one hand, that definitely wasn't good from my point of view, but on the other, it was nice to finally have some certainty. Perhaps I'd been foolish in wishing for Kopaka to change his plan on his own to begin with. Still, I didn't give up hope that I'd be able to change it for him; at the very least, he'd have to admit that there was more reason to him going back there than just the logical, duty-inspired argument that he'd made before… and if he came to the point of recognizing that, I was certain he could overcome it, too.

I busied myself with some of the old magazines distributed in bins throughout the car for what I thought would be the rest of the trip; I expected Kopaka to remain in his meditative state all the way to Ko-Koro-Nuva to avoid further unwanted questions. However, with around an hour left to go, he suddenly woke up and took a moment to get his bearings. I was about to ask him about what was up when, to my surprise, he got up and made his way forward through the car. I followed behind him, only to find that he'd only moved forward to turn on the telescreen at the front of the car. This one was actually working for a change; having turned it on, Kopaka changed the channel a couple of times before he found the one he was looking for, after which he picked out and settled down in one of the seats directly facing the screen.

"The telescreen?" I questioned, baffled as to what exactly he was intent on watching and why, on this last leg of the journey, he was watching anything at all when his preferred way to kill time had always been the meditation. The channel he'd picked was running through a commercial at the time, so what exactly was in store wasn't quite clear yet. Kopaka didn't even acknowledge my question, apparently confident that the answer would imminently present itself, which of course it did. After the last couple of seconds of the ad had played out, I was shocked to see the Arena Magna's logo appear on screen, followed soon thereafter by the appearance of a Glatorian and an Agori sitting behind a desk in a room overlooking the arena itself. That was the press box. These were the commentators for a fight… and then I remembered what the big fight of the night was.


	54. Chapter 54

"Tahu, the Master of Fire versus the Porcupine!" the Agori excitedly exclaimed, leaving even viewers who'd somehow missed all the promotion leading up to this night in no doubt as to what exactly they were about to witness.

"Tahu's fight!?" I turned to Kopaka in disbelief, but again he offered no reply, no explanation, nothing… except in that his facial expression had turned about as glacial as I'd ever seen it. He clearly wasn't watching this for its entertainment value... then why was he?

"That's right, Durzek," the Glatorian sharing commentator duties added to his colleague's excited declaration. "Tonight is the fight we've all been waiting for, folks: the Master of Fire faces off against his toughest challenger yet. We've made it past the opening rounds, though as you can see, it'll still be a moment before the Arena is clear of the remnants." A short cut to a closer overview of the arena revealed chilling evidence of the night's previous proceedings, including numerous pieces of scrap metal that staff Agori were still gathering up and an ominously large, deep-red stain on the ground nearby.

"That sure was one impressive beat-down on the part of Lady Soraka's latest," Durzek recapped. "Certainly better than her contestant's performance last week." He turned to his co-presenter: "tell me, Evahl, what happened to him again?"

"He won't see the arena again," Evahl answered in a somehow jovial tone. "We all know what happens to those who bring dishonor to Soraka's name." The explanation was accompanied by a downright cringe-worthy 'guillotine' gesture on the part of Durzek. "Exactly," Evahl confirmed.

"Well, tonight's main man's head will stay on his shoulders for now," Durzek remarked, "but the same cannot be said of his opponent. Still, it looks like we'll be done getting the rest of him out of the way soon, and you know what that means: the crowd is getting pumped for the next one."

"And you know, after a show like that, there's no telling what's in store with the main fight," Evahl picked up seamlessly from his co-presenter. "This sure was one hell of a crowd-warmer, though of course we all know who's about to really turn up the heat." His obvious clichéd reference to the Master of Fire elicited a chuckle or two from Durzek. Terrible jokes aside, if a fight that ended in one gladiator having to be removed from the arena in pieces was merely considered a 'crowd-warmer,' what in the world were they expecting of Tahu and the Porcupine? I shuddered to think of it, in part of still-graphic memories from the last fight I'd seen.

"And here comes the Porcupine now!" Durzek suddenly turned his attention to one of the entrances into the battleground below as the crowd began to erupt in cheers, heralding the imminent appearance of the iron-clad Skakdi. "Of course he was the one responsible for Soraka's humiliating defeat last week," the Agori announcer wasted no time in reminding us, "and we all remember his finishing move against the Lady of the Frost." 'Finishing move' was putting it generously. I would've described it more as an execution. "Brutal, brutal stuff, but that's what he's known for. No doubt we'll see more of it tonight… and there he is, folks." Distinctively clad in shining silver, heavily spiked armor, the Porcupine strutted in sporting the traditional wide-toothed grin and with his two-handed morning star slung over his shoulder, which combined with his posture conveyed a picture of arrogance that surely described his entire personality in an instant. Unfazed by the fact that there were still some clean-up workers present, he marched into the center of the arena, almost kicking one of the unfortunates aside in the process. Once there, he raised his weapon over his head, raising and lowering it several times as though he was already triumphant, and looking at the crowd's reaction I wouldn't have been surprised if he was. I glanced at Kopaka for a moment; his eyes were shooting daggers at the screen.

"Reveling in it as we all do," Evahl observed proudly, "but few know how to please the crowd like the Porcupine. Put on a show: any match in there could be your last."

"It could be," Durzek added in a somewhat sarcastic tone, "but I got a feeling that it won't be this one. Not for the Porcupine."

"Maybe not, but then again, he is up against the Master of Fire," Evahl countered, then gestured at the opposite entrance to the one from which the Porcupine had appeared: "…and it looks like he's just arriving now." With the Skakdi's display over, all eyes turned to the other entrance. Moments later, a bright flash of orange-yellow light lit up the entrance tunnel, revealing for a split second the silhouette of Tahu approaching. The crowd immediately lit up again as the Toa Nuva of Fire made his appearance and proceeded to march quickly and stoically towards the center of the arena. Unlike the Porcupine, he didn't do much to acknowledge the crowd, didn't revel in the energy of the place the way he had only a week before. No, this time he made it abundantly clear that he meant business. Also, I noticed his right arm was still bandaged up underneath the armor. When he reached the center right across from his opponent he stopped, looked him up and down, then apparently decided to give the crowd something after all. He turned to face a section of the audience, raised and ignited his swords over his head, then brought them down quickly at his side while turning around to send heat-waves in all directions. Standing only twenty or so feet away, the Porcupine didn't so much as move a muscle at the display.

"And there it is, the greeting," Durzek explained for the benefit of those who weren't familiar with Tahu's opening routine. "Still good, maybe, but if we're honest it's getting just a bit stale now."

"Yeah, it's becoming more and more like he's looking to save the fire for the fight," Evahl agreed. "Still, those burning blades have heralded plenty of spectacular wins for him, including last week's end of the Lord of the Skrall."

"Ah yes, the furnace technique," Durzek remembered, immediately calling up that image for me to wince at. "It works especially well against heavily armored opponents, doesn't it?"

"That it does, and they don't come much heavier than the Porcupine," Evahl noted. "At the same time, that morning star is capable of devastating hits if granted a clean shot. Really, both these fighters are going to be trying to set up for that one killing blow. Beyond that, no tactics last even ten seconds into a fight."

"I can't wait to see that happen," Durzek added excitedly, "and neither can thousands of fans out there. It looks like we won't have to wait long, 'cause our pickup crews have just cleared the field. Well, cleared it as much as possible, right? Right?" he smiled and prodded an elbow in his co-presenter's direction as if to say "get it?"

"As much as possible," Evahl agreed. However, even a cursory glance over the battleground indicated it was far from clean; the large armor scraps had been removed, but nothing had been done about the many smaller pieces or the disturbingly fresh stain on the ground. While the two fighters squared up against each other, I took advantage of the momentary lull in the commentary to try and figure out why in the world Kopaka was wanting to watch this. Already, it was an embodiment of everything he'd denounced about the spectacle of the arena fights, and rightfully so, but he kept watching intently all the same.

"Sorry, but why do you want to watch this?" I asked. He didn't respond, not even with so much as a gesture or anything suggesting me to stay quiet. He wasn't answering anything, and even if he had he would almost certainly have been cut off by the announcers.

"And they're ready to go!" Durzek excitedly announced, only to follow it up with "…which means we'll be back right after this!" Cut to commercial. I immediately turned back to Kopaka.

"Really, why?" I asked again. Rather than looking to me, he looked down at the ground, apparently planning on waiting out the commercials. "I mean, why aren't you… you know, meditating or something like that," I suggested. "Why this? You know it's going to be awful either way."

"It will be," he acknowledged but went no further.

"Then why?" I kept pressing on. "Do you want to see Tahu die or see him kill someone else? Wasn't Stronius bad enough?"

"No," he answered curtly. "Watch, Lis. Watch what this world has become." As he said that, his voice took on an incredibly dismal tone. If there'd been any doubt about his reluctance to watch this before, they were gone now; he found no entertainment in this whatsoever, but still felt the need to show it to me. Was he trying to draw something meaningful out of it, something to teach me?

"But I've already seen this," I reminded him. "Stronius, live, in person. It's awful, it's a travesty; I get it. Why put yourself through this?"

"Just watch," he repeated solemnly.

"Fine, but you know it won't end well," I relented. This fight… it was going to be the death of a Toa either way. The only ways to come out of this fight were in victory or in pieces; the former would only be another nail in the coffin Tahu's title as Toa, while the latter would mean two Toa Nuva'd have to be buried next week. I waited out the rest of the break dreading the end of it and mulling over the situation, trying to come up with some better reason for why Kopaka wanted to watch this. I came up with nothing.

"Welcome back!" Durzek called out the moment he was back on air. "The gates are down, the weapons readied, and ARE YOU READY TO SEE SOME CARNAGE!?" That last question was probably directed more at the live audience, who of course went wild at the prospect of carnage. Cameras established the scene with shots from all angles within the arena, until at least they settled on the two fighters standing across from each other in ready poses. Evahl provided the countdown:

"Tahu, the Master of Fire versus the Porcupine, round 1! Begin in Three, Two, One… FIGHT!"

I expected the fighters to be upon each other in an instant, but for a second both held their positions as if expecting the other to charge. When neither did, they slowly approached each other, circling, ready to strike at any moment but not willing to expose themselves to do so. Silence ruled the commentators, too, until Durzek eventually mentioned something about them sizing each other up. He'd barely uttered the words when, apparently bored of the status quo, the Porcupine suddenly leapt forward and took the first swing. Tahu was ready, parrying the morning star by redirecting its swing with both of his blades while sidestepping out of the way. He tried to follow it up by planting a sword into the Porcupine's side, but the Skakdi proved more cunning than that; he looked like he'd given the attack everything, but in fact even as he came down with the swing he'd already been moving to avoid the inevitable counterattack. Still, it left him in little position to retaliate quickly and moments later the fighters found themselves squaring up a few feet apart again, waiting for the other to make a move. The air was tense; even the crowd was silent in anticipation. Ever the crowd-pleaser, the Porcupine soon attempted to move in again, only to find his attack deflected just like before. The cycle repeated itself several times more; tactically, Tahu was doing the sound thing by not biting and buying time for his opponent to make a mistake, but as time passed the crowd went from awaiting the action with great anticipation to getting bored at the lack of major action, which the commentary began to reflect.

"Oh, he's going to have to do something soon," Evahl reminded everyone. "Everyone might be anticipating a kill, but if this fight goes the distance this tip-toeing around each other isn't going to earn him any points at all."

"Yeah, we'd better get some action soon," Durzek added. The Porcupine immediately obliged with what was definitely his most committed attack yet; he pulled the morning star back over his shoulder in an instant, then quickly moved forward to bring it down on Tahu. The Master of Fire changed tact, too: rather than using his weapons to deflect the attack, he attempted to sidestep it to get a good opportunity to strike back. He was successful on both counts, as the Porcupine's weapon found nothing but air until it hit the arena floor hard enough to crack the stone and the flame swords found their mark on the Skakdi's right arm. It was still a glancing blow at best, since Tahu had to be careful to avoid running himself into the armor spikes of his opponent, but it was technically first blood. The commentators wasted no time in announcing it over the arena's speakers, and the crowd immediately cheered for it; as far as they were concerned, that move just kickstarted the real fight. Having momentarily lost momentum, the Porcupine attempted to ward Tahu off with a low, backhanded swing of his morning star; it worked and Tahu was forced to quickly take a step back to avoid the weapon, allowing the Skakdi to get up and follow him while chaining multiple swings of his weapon together in a surprisingly smooth, fast, and continuous motion. Now the one off balance, Tahu was forced to take back one step after another without much opportunity to maneuver around the whirling thing, attempting to parry a few times as he did so. However, parrying didn't get him very far against the mass of metal coming at him, continuously driving him back.

By the time the fighters had moved about halfway across the arena, Tahu'd apparently had enough as he tried to put some weight behind his swords while pushing them into the path of the morning star to break the chain. It was a mistake; the way the porcupine wielded it may have made the weapon look light, but it had built up tremendous momentum and Tahu found himself knocked completely off-balance. The porcupine used what momentum remained to swing the weapon around one more time and catch Tahu flat on the chest with an upswing, sending the master of fire hurtling backwards until he tripped and landed on the ground. Momentarily fazed and having to catch his breath, Tahu could do little to stop the earth-shattering overhead swing that was no doubt to follow; the Porcupine raised the morning star over his head, the crowd erupted, I looked away… and then a loud horn announced that the time for round one had run out. For a moment, time itself seemed to stopped entirely as both fighters froze in place, but after a moment's hesitation the Porcupine disappointedly lowered his weapon. This wasn't the time for a finishing blow. Tahu'd been saved by the bell... for now.

"And that's round one, and nearly the end of the fight right there," Durzek excitedly proclaimed.

"Indeed," Evahl took over, "as we saw some great work by the Porcupine there with that windmill attacking style…" I stopped listening, and looked to Kopaka instead. He was still watching, though nothing in his posture or expression indicated that he was in any way invested in his brother's fight.

"That… that was too close," I remarked, hoping to get some commentary from the Toa of Ice in return. "One second more and that would've been it." It took a moment or two before he responded.

"My brother misgauged his opponent," he said bluntly without so much as glancing in my direction. "It has brought him close to death on multiple occasions."

"Right… so do you think he will win?" I couldn't help but wonder whether or not he'd done some kind of analysis of the fighters' performance to make a prediction.

"He will not if he continues to fight as he has so far," Kopaka answered. "He has been unusually cautious by his own standards, and it does not suit him."

"True… most of the action came from the Porcupine. Nothing like last week's fight." I remembered how much more aggressive Tahu's been against the self-proclaimed Lord of the Skrall. "Why do you think he's doing that?" I asked.

"You are the expert on people, are you not?" Kopaka replied with a question. "What do you think?"

"Something must've happened…" I began to reason out loud, but I barely got that far before the 'something' popped into my head: "Pohatu." Kopaka returned to looking at the screen, not giving so much as a nod to indicate yes or no, but already I was piecing things together in my head: Tahu was playing it cautious exactly because he didn't want to make a mistake; he wanted to leave the arena alive to attend his brother's funeral. Hell, he'd probably be giving a speech or something there. This fight had to be really bad timing for him, especially given its high stakes…

"And we're back!" the voice of Durzek interrupted my thinking, prompting me to return my attention to the screen, too. "Tahu, the Master of Fire versus the Porcupine, round two!" the Agori announced with frantic hand-waving motions. Evahl immediately offered some insight of his own:

"Yes, and after a first round that was relatively light on action, both fighters will be looking to take it up a notch. Remember, even that round nearly ended in a K.O. on its own, but both fighters are still in good shape. With my experience I can tell you that that won't be the case after this round, oh no."

"Yeah, you usually see a lot more risks being taken in the second round," Durzek added, "especially by the side that probably lost the first."

"…which I'd say was Tahu," Evahl concluded. "He's played the long game so far, but the lack of effective action from his side and that crucial mistake at the end have cost him dearly. Can he make up for that? Right now, no one can tell."

"Well, then let's get this thing going, shall we?" Durzek said as he turned around to face the arena and its rabid crowd. "WHO'S READY TO PAINT THIS PLACE RED!?" he questioned their readiness in a particularly tasteless manner, but boy did it get a response. Really, 'rabid' is the best way that I could describe the crowd, and the loud cheers and roars continued as the Agori led the them in to the countdown. "THREE! TWO! ONE! FIGHT!"

Clearly still riding high from the end of the last round, the Porcupine wasted no time in closing in on Tahu this time around. However, he was dealing with a Toa more determined this time, a Toa who once again parried his morning star out of the way as soon as it came within striking range. However, where before Tahu had played it relatively cool and slow, now his follow-up was immediate; having re-directed the Porcupine's attack to the ground next to him, he immediately took two steps over and swung both of his weapons into the Skakdi's back. The armoring present even there meant that the initial effect had to be minimal, but the impact did knock the Porcupine further forward, messing with his balance and giving Tahu time for the real response: he ignited his blades and sent bolts of fire off of them and into his opponent's back. For a moment, it was quite a nice light show, but other than some scorch marks on the back of the Porcupine's armor it still appeared to have little effect, and by now the iron-clad Skakdi has managed to turn around and was coming at Tahu again. Again, he attempted to bring the morning star down on the Toa of Fire's head, and again the latter managed to parry it aside and into the ground where it immediately ended the useful life of another of the arena's stone floor tiles. Tahu again made multiple strikes into the Porcupine's back while latter recovered, his now-ignited weapons always leaving streaks of fire in their wake to make for a much better show. The pattern repeated itself two or three more times before the Porcupine appeared to realize that he was rapidly getting nowhere, though the fact that Tahu'd broken one of the spikes jutting out from his spine probably had something to do with it. When he turned around after weathering yet another series of counterattacks, he opted not to immediately launch into a charge again. Instead, he readied his morning star in a defensive posture, beckoning his opponent to come at him.

Tahu did just that; having worn the Skakdi down somewhat, he attempted to charge him by using one of his blades to parry the morning star to the side while striking with the other. It worked, and he was able to follow it up with a devastating series of sword strikes, wheeling both blades around him in a continuous motion while streaks of fire jetted off in their trails, accompanied by a cacophony of metallic clangs. Unable to muster a response in time, the Porcupine was forced to back up, then back up again and again as Tahu steadily drove him across the area in a whirlwind of metal and fire. This was the Tahu that I'd seen fighting the week before… and as the announcers feverishly attempted blow-by-blow commentary, one of them mentioned that he might be working up to a furnace, a chilling prospect as far as I was concerned. Still Tahu relentlessly pushed on; only when the Porcupine's back was nearly against the arena wall did he at last let off, quickly taking several steps back to avoid any opportunistic swing regardless of how quick it could be. The iron-clad Skakdi had to take a moment to come to his senses anyways, and Tahu took advantage of it by powering up both his swords and then planting them into cracks between the arena floor tiles. Immediately, bright orange streaks shot down the cracks and filled the area between the stones underneath the Porcupine's feet; he only had a moment to realize what was happening before, heralded by a slight rumbling beforehand, the ground suddenly erupted in fire and flying stone slabs below him.

"IT'S THE ERUPTION!" one of the announcers identified the move. For a second or two, the fire completely obscured the Porcupine from view, and I feared that by the time it ended, the sight that remained would be akin to that of Stronius after the furnace move. Then suddenly a bellowing roar, a battle cry overtook the sound of the eruption, and the Skakdi came charging out of the column of fire, straight for Tahu and with his morning star fully drawn back. With his swords still planted in the ground, Tahu had no time to react as the weapon swung for him, connecting with full force onto the left side of his body. The impact sent him hurtling sideways and forced him to let go of one of his blades. He just about controlled the landing and regained his bearings, but now found himself squaring off against a snarling, seething Skakdi in armor covered in soot and with smoke still rising from many areas inside. I couldn't imagine the burns the guy had suffered, but if anything they had only pushed him into a blind rage. Immediately, he let out another roaring battle cry as he charged the now wounded Toa. Hurting badly on his left side, Tahu only just managed to avoid the blow, after which he attempted to scramble towards where his other sword was still sticking up from between two of the floor tiles. The Porcupine came at him again as he did so, swinging from behind; Tahu saw the attack coming at the last moment and dropped prone to let it sail over him, but this left the morning star to go on and hit the standing sword, sending it flying into the wall several tens of feet away. It was now completely out of reach, and the Porcupine was already raising his weapon once again to bring it down on the Toa of Fire. For a moment, the scene was almost a carbon copy of how the first round had ended, but this time, we were only halfway through…

The Porcupine brought his weapon down over his head with incredible force; Tahu just managed to roll out of the way, but the impact of the weapon against the ground broke several of the floor tiles in half and sent some smaller pieces flying in all directions. Tahu managed to get back on his feet while his opponent picked up his weapon again, and retaliated by sending more fire bolts in his general direction. They didn't have much effect, and the Porcupine charged for him once again. Tahu was forced to leap out of the way without so much as a moment's opportunity to mount any kind of counterattack. He quickly regained his bearings again, but now the Skakdi was on the offensive and he wasn't going to let it go. Swing after swing, he relentlessly moved forward without leaving Tahu any opportunity to get close enough to strike back. Across the arena they went, until eventually they reached the opposite wall. Tahu literally bumped into it, apparently unaware of how quickly they'd shifted across the battleground, and now all of the sudden he had nowhere left to go. Again the Porcupine moved in, aiming to hit the same spot on which he'd gotten such a good hit before, but as it turned out Tahu had prepared for exactly that plan, and he reacted with surprising speed for someone as seriously wounded as he had to be. He leaped upwards, then pushed off of the wall to propel himself over the top of his opponent with a flip and land right behind him. Before the Porcupine could turn around, Tahu struck at him from that position with a low, back-handed swing that cut across one of the few vulnerable spots on the Skakdi's armor: the insides of his knees. A loud "Aargh!" escaped from the Skakdi's mouth as his left leg momentarily collapsed; Tahu took advantage by swinging for the other knee, which he just managed to nick as well. For a moment, the Skakdi was on his knees and Tahu looked about to take a third swing, this time for the neck. However, before he could get that far the horn sounded yet again. Round two had ended, and this time it was the Porcupine who owed his life to that. Both the announcers and the crowd were going wild over the action all the same.

"That… that was gruesome," was all I managed to get out. Not that I had expected anything less, mind you, but this round had gone back and forth in such tension that I noticed my hands were shaking afterwards. Looking over to Kopaka, I noticed the expression on his face had changed: he was angry, furious even, but still just managing to keep it all bottled up while the telescreen showed Tahu retrieving his sword and both fighters receiving some hurried, rudimentary medical aid to prepare them for the final round. I didn't dare ask any questions this time around, and for the moment I was numb to whatever the commentators were going on about… I just sat there, waited, prayed that somehow the next round wouldn't be worse. After a few minutes that felt like much more, Tahu and the Porcupine were squared up once again, both standing with considerably less poise but both clearly burning with a hatred of the other, ready to kill them whenever the opportunity presented itself. The commentators once again led the countdown to round three.

"THREE! TWO! ONE! FIGHT!"


	55. Chapter 55

The third round started off more like the first than the second; the fighters carefully approached each other with their guards up. What bandaging had been done on their wounds clearly wasn't sufficient to stop them being a hindrance; Tahu favored moving to his left side and the Porcupine's walk was stiff, almost clumsy, both results of the hits they'd taken in the previous rounds. Tahu's chest plate was still severely dented, while charred burn and pot marks dotted the Porcupine's armor and a couple of its spikes were bent or broken. However, battered as they were, both still moved with dark intent; their postures were low and aggressive, and Tahu's blades were already pulsing red-hot as the fighters slowly circled around one another and watched hawk-like for any weakness to exploit. This state of affairs didn't last long; pretty early on, Tahu either spotted a weakness or decided to create one, 'cause he took a step back for and crossed his blades in front of him. They ignited in full, after which he rapidly swung them down to his sides, sending two streaks of fire in an 'X' pattern flying towards the Porcupine. The Skakdi simply put his weapon in the path of the attack and let it dissipate the fire for him. However, this created exactly the opportunity that Tahu'd been looking for; momentarily blinded to the Toa's exact location by the fire and the morning star in front of him, the Skakdi didn't realize that said Toa was following right behind and already maneuvering around him.

Tahu got in frightfully close and aimed low, striking deliberately at the back of his opponent's legs. He didn't quite hit the sensitive spot he was aiming for, but it had an effect all the same, forcing the Porcupine to quickly move forward and out of the way. Unfortunately, Tahu couldn't quite move fast enough to stay behind him as he turned around, and soon found himself having to block a blind swing of the morning star which he only barely managed to do. Now the two were face-to-face again, but the Porcupine was displaying the aggression in spite of Tahu's attempts to ward him off by hurling more fire in his direction. He moved in relentlessly, letting the flames splatter and run off his armor without any apparent effect, forcing the Toa of Fire onto the defensive, a position in which he was at a definite disadvantage. The Porcupine pushed his momentum to drive Tahu into the wall, but when they got there the Toa of Fire attempted to nail him with the same trick he'd used last round; jumping up and off of the wall to get over and behind the Skakdi. However, the latter was prepared this time: rather than attacking with a lower, horizontal swing, he went for an overhead one, putting his weapon exactly in the path that Tahu's leap was to take. Tahu didn't realize what was coming in time; he only managed to re-direct his leap slightly so avoid taking the hit face-first in mid-air; he caught it on his right shoulder instead. It mangled his pauldron pretty badly, but the main damage done was to his momentum, which was instantly lost, so rather than sailing over the Porcupine's head and landing behind him, the Toa of Fire found himself landing right on the Skakdi's spiked shoulder. Through some quick maneuvering he managed to avoid being completely impaled, but even just sliding off of the Porcupine's spiked back clearly caused some substantial damage. The Porcupine turned around with another blind swing, which came within a hair of Tahu's head; disaster narrowly avoided, the Toa of Fire managed to dash out of the weapon's range before it could come around for another swing, but the initiative remained firmly in his opponent's hands.

The Porcupine took advantage by proceeding to once again drive Tahu across the arena by coming at him like a juggernaut. Realizing that he could at least control the direction in which they were headed and that he could no longer rely in exploiting the wall to gain a tactical advantage, the Toa continuously withdrew along a path tracing a large circle through the battleground. In spite of this improvised control, the commentators still noted that he appeared at a loss for how exactly to get through his opponent's offense, and now that opponent had the crowd on his side as well. It fast became clear that Tahu'd have to do something pretty spectacular fast to win back the fight, but he wasn't in much of a condition to pull tricks at the moment. Then again, the same could be said of the Porcupine, whose charge at last began to lose steam. Much like Stronius' the week before, the Iron-clad Skakdi's energy had run out well before the timer, and to little effect; Tahu'd spent as little energy as he could to continuously get away, and was now ready to turn what he'd saved back on an exhausted opponent. The morning star slowed, hit the ground, then was drawn back up into a more defensive position, but by the time it was up Tahu'd already closed the distance and was ready to unleash another flurry of fire and steel onto its wielder.

He started by parrying the morning star to the side with a slash from one blade in preparation for a thrust with the other. The attack only glanced off of the Porcupine's thick armoring, but produced a shower of sparks as it did, and Tahu immediately followed it by twisting around to the Skakdi's side and bringing both swords down in parallel on his left arm. That had more effect, even if that effect was mostly just more sparks; other than the back of the legs, Tahu still had to find another solid weak spot to aim for, and aiming that low would leave him vulnerable to a low blind swing from his opponent. That opponent wasn't going to let him get away with even this forever either; after the hit on the arm, the Porcupine quickly managed to turn around to get his most heavily armored side (his front) to his opponent, only to be rewarded with a glancing blow against his helmet whose follow-up knocked his morning star out of the way again. Recognizing the momentary disorientation that the helmet blow caused, Tahu took advantage by bringing both his blades, flames and all, down on the helmet again in a cross-chop motion. The move left him momentarily defenseless, but the Porcupine was in no condition to retaliate. Still, almost by instinct Tahu leapt back afterwards and followed the move by sending two longer streams of fire at his opponent from a safer distance. The fire's effect was still limited, but worse was the fact that it gave the Porcupine a sorely needed second to get his bearings, which of course he did. Now more furious than ever, he was coming at Tahu full-force in spite of his exhaustion and immediately forcing the Toa to take defensive action again. The scene from a minute before repeated itself, with Tahu dodging the first swing, parrying the second, and being well out of the way before the third one came along. He looked set to wear the Porcupine down again for a while, but then one sentence from the announcers changed everything:

"And the Porcupine takes the offensive again, but can he close it with only Thirty Seconds left in the last round!?" The announcement bellowed through the arena just like all the other commentary, but unlike any of the others this line actually had a real impact on both fighters. Before, they'd always had the next round, but here it was now or never, the time for final gambits. Still on the offensive, the Porcupine answered immediately with a larger-than-usual swing that Tahu only just managed to dodge, but unlike before the Skakdi let his weapon's momentum carry him around this time, apparently giving the Toa the opportunity to move in. Tahu took it and swung at his opponent's back, getting a hit in on the helmet from behind, but only then did it become clear that the Porcupine was going to carry his swing around again, and thanks to his attack Tahu was now too close to dodge it outright. He tried to maneuver his blades in the way and duck to mitigate the hit as much as possible, but as it came careening around the morning star's energy was simply too much for him to fully redirect, never mind block. He caught a major hit on the same shoulder whose pauldron had already been battered severely earlier in the round. The chunk of armor went flying off, and muscle strands over the shoulder of the already bandaged arm were torn to shreds.

Caught low with a broken shoulder and the Porcupine raising the morning star over him to make sure he never got up again, Tahu's position was extremely precarious, but his opponent's exhaustion was showing in how long it took him to raise his heavy weapon. The Toa of Fire took advantage by thrusting his good arm's weapon upwards towards the newly exposed weak point that was the Porcupine's arm pit. He nailed it, cutting deep and forcing the Skakdi to lower his weapon. The Porcupine immediately retaliated by roaring out in anger and shoving Tahu's head in the other direction with his free hand, forcing the Toa back down onto the ground. This was what the fight had gotten down to; a hands-on brawl. With Tahu struggling for a moment to get up, the Porcupine raised his weapon again, though he now had to use both hands to do so, and brought it down on top of the Toa with all the strength he could muster. Tahu rolled to get out of the way, but one of the weapon's spikes still clipped one of his legs, doing a fair amount of damage. Then, to my surprise, Tahu let go of his left sword entirely and reached up with a now free hand, grabbomg a hold of the staff of the morning star to prevent the Porcupine from drawing it back for the next blow. The Porcupine reacted to this by attempting to stomp on Tahu while pulling back on his weapon, but his leg injuries prevented him from aiming his foot very well and instead he ended up stepping partially over Tahu, who took advantage by stabbing upwards with what little strength he had left in his right arm and planting his sword into the back of the Skakdi's right knee. For that knee, that blow was final; the Porcupine managed to retain his balance for the moment, but he wasn't getting much structural support from that leg any more.

Satisfied, Tahu let go of the morning star, and while the Porcupine drew it upwards again to try and smash the Toa loitering around his feet, that Toa reached upwards with his left hand and grabbed a hold of one of the spikes jutting out from his opponent's lower back. Just as the Skakdi brought his weapon down again, Tahu pulled hard, quickly dragging the rest of his body over the ground between the Porcupine's legs and out of harm's way; the only thing the morning star managed to destroy were yet another two or three floor tiles, while Tahu managed to pull himself up enough to get back on his feet behind his opponent. It took the latter a moment or two to realize where the Toa had gone, time which Tahu spent switching his right hand sword to his left and then stabbing his opponent in the back of the left knee to give him a matching set. A cry, a roar, something borne of rage and anguish bellowed out from the Porcupine, who tried to go for another blind, back-handed swing as he turned around, only to find his that his legs were failing him. With a loud thud, he fell to his knees, no doubt breaking them even more. Now there were twenty seconds left on the clock.

"…and we haven't seen anything like this in ages!" Durzek announced in a voice frantic enough make one believe that he was about to explode with excitement. "It's like a drag-out street brawl down there, and Tahu just outmaneuvered the Porcupine by the skin of his teeth! He's got him on his knees and at his mercy!" Standing behind a momentarily immobile opponent, Tahu angled his sword downwards and drove it directly into the gap between the Porcupine's torso armor and left pauldron, eliciting another thundering roar from the Skakdi.

"And there goes the left shoulder!" Evahl exclaimed. "He's dismantling him piece by piece now!" Tahu withdrew the blade and was about to do the same thing to the Porcupine's right shoulder when the Skakdi furiously bellowed:

"TOA COWARD! FACE ME HERE! FACE… THIS!" As he uttered that last word, he suddenly hurled all his weight into twisting himself around on his knees, bringing his morning star around in the process. It forced Tahu to abandon dismantling the shoulder, but just like before he was too close to dodge the blow outright. Instead, as his opponent wheeled around to face him in a clockwise direction, Tahu did the same, swinging down with his sword… but not at the Porcupine. No, he was swinging for the morning star, and he managed to catch his sword right on the base of the weapon's weighted end. With a loud grunt, Tahu pushed his blade outwards as hard as he could to drive the morning star away from himself and the twisting Porcupine, and to everyone's amazement, it worked! The weapon was wrenched out of the Skakdi's hand, and the combination of its gathered momentum and Tahu flinging it away on his sword caused it to careen off and land thirty feet or so away with a loud crash. The roar of the crowd went from louder than usual to downright deafening.

"Can we believe this!?" Durzek must've been jumping up and down in his seat judging by the energy in his voice. "The Porcupine's weapon is GONE!"

"What a maneuver!" Evahl added. The Porcupine's momentum carried him around to face Tahu, and for the moment he just about managed to remain upright.

"FACE ME!" he spat as he began to raise his fists, the left one rather shakily. Tahu responded by bringing his sword with flames on full down on the Skakdi's right shoulder, managing to plant it right in the armor gap present there and forcing his opponent to lower his right fist.

"And there goes the other arm," Evahl continued to narrate. "The Porcupine has almost nothing left to work with now!"

"FACE ME!" the Porcupine exclaimed again in a blind rage, spitting foam in Tahu's direction as his eyes began to glow a deep, bloody red. Tahu responded by taking a step back and kicking the Skakdi square in the face, forcing him onto his back, or rather onto the spikes on his back. The Skakdi let out a raging, bellowing sound that words honestly couldn't describe as two heat vision beams shot up into the sky.

"He's stuck! The Porcupine's pinned on his own spikes!" Durzek helpfully identified the Skakdi's predicament. With all his limbs seriously crippled in at least one joint, there was little he could do to push himself off of the spikes he was balanced, much like a dermis turtle turned on its back. "Ten seconds left, and he's down for the finishing blow! Up on the chopping block!"

"Are we going to see a decapitation!?" Evahl speculated as Tahu walked around his opponent-turned-turtle to get to his head side. While he did so, a unanimous, deeply disturbing chant of the crowd began to overtake even the volume the commentators could produce:

"Finish him! Finish him! Finish Him! FINISH HIM!" I was simultaneously desperate too look away and so transfixed that I couldn't. Having reached a position by the Porcupine's head, Tahu ominously began to raise his sword over his head like an executioner, maintaining poise I would've thought impossible with the injuries he'd suffered. He stood there, eyes transfixed on his opponents' and with his sword pointing up at the sky, about to come down on the Skakdi's neck like a flaming guillotine, his face contorted into an expression of extreme anger and disgust. For his part, the Porcupine was still repeating the same phrase at him, now barely coherent through spit and laced with expletives. The crowd's chant grew ever louder, but Tahu held the pose, glaring down on his opponent as if to say 'any moment now,' breathing furiously through his teeth. The announcers counted with the clock:

"Five! Four! Three! Two!..." Tahu remained motionless apart from visible breathing. The flames erupting from his sword flickered in the wind, and the Porcupine writhed as large red pools formed below the parts of his body that'd been severely wounded. He was still keeping up his mindless tirade while Tahu didn't so much as utter a single word, like he was standing still in time…

BWUAAAAAAAAP! Just as the horn signaled the end of the round and the fight, Tahu brought down his blade. The crowd, the source of a deafening cacophony before the horn sounded, instantly fell silent. So did the commentators. Everyone watched to see a head roll, but no head rolled... A collective gasp could be heard from audience and commentators alike. Tahu hadn't brought the blade down to cut through his opponent's neck at all, though there was no doubt that had been his original intention. Instead, he'd brought the pommel of the blade down on the forehead section of the Skakdi's helmet, producing a loud "CLANG" and instantly rendering the iron warrior unconscious but not dead. For a few seconds, while the crowd and the announcers struggled to realize what had happened, the Toa just stood there, still looking down on his opponent, still with an expression of disgust. Then, just as the murmurs in the crowd started up, he spoke up:

"In the name of my brother you live today," he said just loudly enough for a nearby microphone to pick up, "but I will not see you in here again." With that, he turned around to retrieve his other blade.

"Tell me you saw what I just saw," Durzek turned to his co-presenter. "Did the Master of Fire just let that opportunity slide?"

"Yes, that he did," Evahl confirmed in a grim tone, "and believe me, the crowd's no happier about it than we are." No kidding. By the time Tahu'd picked up his other blade, loud boos were emanating from the crowd, which rapidly swelled up into a full-blown roar of discontent. Tahu totally ignored them; after retrieving his second weapon, he stored them both away and proceed to march across the arena to the gate through which he'd entered in the first place. Behind him, I could see sections of the crowd beginning to move, throwing various forms of Tahu memorabilia that I'd seen on sale in New Atero into the arena to express their disgust with the fighter who they'd been rooting for only a minute before.

"This is not good, folks, not good at all," Durzek explained over Tahu's march and the noise of the crowd. "A fighter who can't finish the job is bound to meet their end soon, and Tahu's just joined that doomed club."

"No doubt," Evahl concurred. "Already, disappointed fans are turning on him left and right, and a fighter with no fans left is on borrowed time. Even if his next match is a spectacular victory, the world won't soon forget this betrayal." His words were still broadcast through the arena, and no doubt Tahu could hear them, but just like the crowd he utterly ignored them. As the Toa got close to his entrance, Matoran and Agori in the seats nearby started to pelt him with his own icons; statuettes, small models of his weapons, signs, everything, but Tahu marched on into the tunnel without so much as a glance in their direction. Limping slightly, and with his right arm motionless at his side, the wounded warrior disappeared from view, leaving a knocked-out opponent turned turtle and a riotous crowd in his wake. No, really, there were riots all through that night. At the time, even the announcers quickly decided it was best to get a move on. I, meanwhile, turned to Kopaka.

"By Mata Nui…" I struggled to find words to describe what we'd just watched. "Those people are furious at him…" Kopaka, of course, didn't bother to reply and was managing his expressions as to give little away, but I could tell that he was shaken. No, not just surprised, taken aback, even shocked; the Toa of Ice was fundamentally shaken. When he'd told me to watch what this world had become, I don't think even he knew what he was in for. As the commentators said a hurried goodbye and urged people to tune in for new fights the following week, he got up, turned off the telescreen, and headed back to his seat further back in the car without another word. I followed. "That was… that was awful," I finally fit a word to my feelings, albeit an inadequate one. "He chose not to kill, and look what he's getting for it. I mean, I wouldn't miss the Porcupine or anything, but he chose to let his foe live… he chose mercy. He did what a Toa would've done, and now the world is his enemy for it." Suddenly, Kopaka looked up at me; his expression betrayed a sense of despair, of hopelessness, but he was keeping as straight a face as he could regardless.

"Lis," he said in a serious tone, "a real Toa would not have been in that arena to begin with." With that, he returned his gaze to the floor and his mind to its practiced meditation. He was right, of course; Tahu'd forsaken the title of Toa long ago. He'd said so much himself when we'd dropped by his place after the last fight, but at this moment, he'd still decided to do what a Toa would've done by sparing his opponent. Moreover, it was an opponent he hated, if his expressions during the battle were anything to go by… so what had spurred this on? He'd said that he was sparing the Porcupine's life 'in the name of his brother,' so chances were it had something to do with Pohatu's death, but how exactly had that prompted him to make this decision in the arena? Or had something about our visit after his last fight changed his mind? I figured some insight from Kopaka would be helpful.

"Kopaka?" It took a moment before he looked up at me, signaling that I had his attention. "Why do you think he did it?" I asked.

"He said…" Kopaka began, but I pre-empted him:

"He said 'in the name of my brother,' I know," I pointed out, "and that means either Pohatu or you. What do you think changed his mind?" The Toa of Ice spent a few seconds thinking that over before answering.

"What did you say to him?" he asked in return.

"When?"

"After I left Tahu's house," he reminded me, "you stayed for a moment before catching up. What did you tell him then?"

"Uhm. I asked him how to get to Hahli's place, I think…" I found it difficult to recall anything meaningful at first, but then I got something. "Oh! He said some things about you, that it was good that I was with you 'cause he figured you needed the help." I could tell from a subtle drop in the ambient temperature that that was not the answer Kopaka was looking for, so I kept running the sequence of events through my head to come up with the missing pieces. I hit on another one: "actually, the last thing I said was that you were right about something."

"About what?" he asked dryly.

"That there was something of the old Tahu left after all," I remembered. "Like, the Tahu who watched over and cared for his teammates, you know?" A slight nod indicated that he did, but again he took a few moments to get his thoughts together before answering in voice.

"That may well have been it," he spoke in uncharacteristic uncertainty, but then elaborated: "He claimed to regret killing Stronius, that it was forced on him."

"You told him the old Tahu wouldn't have let it get to that," I pointed out.

"He would not have," Kopaka confimed. "However, your last statement may have started him thinking about what he has lost. Perhaps his decision in that arena was an attempt to regain some of that."

"Like, he was trying to be a Toa again?" I wondered.

"Nothing could make him deserving of the title again," Kopaka coldly denounced the idea. "However, if you encouraged him by saying you believed some of the old Tahu still remained, this decision may have been his attempt to act upon that part of himself."

"You think?" I found the idea of me planting the seed that had let to this likely disastrous decision a difficult one to swallow.

"The Toa Nuva's best days are well behind us," Kopaka explained grimly. "For him, the temptation of a chance to return to being the hero he used to be was likely too powerful to resist."

"Maybe, maybe it was," I concurred. "However, he's not the only one in that, is he?" I mean, returning to being the hero he used to be? That was a pretty darn apt description of Kopaka going back into the mountains, right? Kopaka considered what I said for a moment and sighed, but then his expression hardened.

"Enough for now," he repeated the old refrain. "It is all speculation, and we will reach Ko-Koro-Nuva soon." With that, he dropped his gaze to the floor and retreated into his practiced isolation again; a quick glance at the clock confirmed that Ko-Koro-Nuva was at most twenty minutes away. If he was planning on telling me anything more before we got there, he would've done it by this point, and as far as I was concerned his shutting down of the discussion where he did it was proof enough that I was right. It wasn't a full admission, which I certainly still wanted to get from him, but unlike when we'd rolled into Onu-Koro-Nuva after our first trip to New Atero he wasn't feverishly arguing against anything that disputed the fabricated logic around Duty that he believed his decision to go back was based on. That decision was his version of what he was accusing Tahu of doing here: trying to go back to the past, to the time of the Island of Mata Nui, to being the hero he was back then. However, as neither that island nor the world it was located on existed anymore, the new Ko-Wahi mountains were the closest analogue, and they were just as isolating. And just like the decision Tahu'd just made, Kopaka's choice had only negative consequences from a practical standpoint. So, while I wasn't going to force the comparison now, it was yet another point that I could bring up when the time came. That time was going to be real soon in any case.


	56. Chapter 56

And so we found ourselves back where it had all begun just over a week before: Ko-Koro-Nuva in the middle of the night. At this time it was like a ghost town, a fact that had of course figured into Kopaka's decision to delay at our last stop; if anyone was going to recognize him through his hooded cloak and still evident limp it would be a Ko-Matoran. This was also the final stop on the track; every other passenger on board disembarked upon arrival. There weren't many, but nonetheless Kopaka elected to wait until they were out of sight before we got off as well. Just like in New Atero the station in Ko-Koro-Nuva was positioned right off of the town's central square, though both were much, much smaller in footprint than those of the capital. The same couldn't be said with regards to height; six enormous knowledge towers marked the borders of the square, awe-inspiring monoliths connected with walkways on multiple levels. Positioned in the center was a fountain whose waters flowed so slowly and quietly that much of the pond was frozen solid. Coming out of the station, which was located in the base of the northernmost tower, Kopaka turned left and quickly started down the road heading north-east.

"In a hurry?" I asked while trying to keep up. He didn't answer, but with the pace he was going at it was obvious that he wasn't too comfortable on these streets. I figured it was probably the recognition thing again; best to leave any further questions for the edge of town, given that even someone overhearing Kopaka's voice might give the whole game away. We soon reached the northeastern edge of Ko-Koro-Nuva, where a small park marked what geographically was the highest point in town. It included a lower and an upper level, and watching over the town from the rocky outcrop that formed the foundation of the upper level was a statue: Kopaka's memorial. The Toa of Ice headed up the stairs leading there, then slowed down as we got closer to the statue. He stopped about five feet in front of its base to look the whole thing up and down as though he was inspecting it; since it was close to forty feet tall, that involved a lot of looking up. It had an unnatural, crystalline shimmer to it even though it was only illuminated by the dim, cold light provided by the moon and stars in the crystal-clear sky above; the entire statue was carved from one solid block of ice, a feat made possible only due to the permanently freezing temperatures at this altitude. It depicted Kopaka standing with his weapons at his side, eyes fixed over the town on the horizon beyond. On one hand the overall expression perfectly matched the stoicism that the Toa of Ice usually displayed, but there was also something profoundly regal about it, a sense that he was a lot more than just an important historical figure to the Matoran who built his memorial.

"Quite the monument," I observed. Kopaka made no comment, but he was inspecting something on the statue's base. Making my way around, I noticed it too: a plaque inscribed with his name and a poem:

 _In memory of our guardian:_

 _TOA NUVA KOPAKA_

 _Land's highest reach, where Kahu soar,  
where snow lies deep forevermore,  
the clouds fade and the sky is clear.  
Our future is written in the stars up there,  
in prophecies we once scarcely grasped._

 _As they foretold, in darkest times,_  
 _when rahi turned and took our lives,_  
 _fate brought us him, our guardian._  
 _With sword and shield and sight beyond,_  
 _our deliverance had come._

 _When mountains crumbled over our heads,_  
 _when the ground tried to swallow us whole,_  
 _when the Great Spirit's light was choked by shadow,_  
 _he guided and protected us,_  
 _led us to home in paradise._

 _Our lives restored, new towers rose,_  
 _gazing ever further through telescopes,_  
 _searching the stars for other worlds,_  
 _for prophecies, tales yet untold,_  
 _protected by our guardian._

 _In war, a hero. In peace, a scholar. In death, a legend._

 _As we look up to future days,_  
 _he watches over us, always._

I finished by reading the last part out loud, then noticed that Kopaka'd abandoned his spot. For a moment I panicked at the thought of him having left already, but thankfully that wasn't the case. He'd only taken a few steps away from the statue and was facing in the other direction, standing by the railing on the park's upper level's edge and looking over what his memorial surveyed.

"Phew… I thought you'd gone there for a moment…" I voiced my relief to no response. Then I noticed something; whether intentional or not, barring the fact that he didn't have his weapons out Kopaka struck the exact same pose as the statue when he looked out over the town below, a testament to just how accurately his stance had been captured in his element. I wondered for a moment just what any Matoran in town who happened to look up at this time would've thought of the sight; the real Kopaka standing in front of his avatar in ice. For a while he didn't move, taking in the entire view as though he was savoring it, watching over the homes of the Ko-Matoran. I moved up to and took a spot next to him. "Did you do this a lot?" I wondered.

"Do what?" he asked quietly without looking over.

"Watch over them from high above like this," I elaborated. "Just… it seems like this view of the city has something about it to you." He took a moment before answering.

"I always watched over Ko-Koro from above," he reminisced, "and Ko-Metru after that."

"Keeping them safe while keeping your distance," I interpreted. "Very… Kopaka. 'guess that's why they put your statue up here." He nodded slightly, but I thought there was a bit more to it than he realized for the moment. "Kind of symbolic too, I think," I went on. "I mean, Onua and Lewa's statues are in the center of their cities, and no doubt Pohatu's will be in the center of a Po-Matoran district in New Atero, right next to the kolhii field. They made themselves the center of their tribe, spent most of their time among the Matoran while they were around, you know? Meanwhile, yours is at the highest point right outside of town, 'cause that's where you were… always out of town."

"I was down there when my presence was required," he turned and explained somewhat defensively. "When it was not, I watched over them from afar as the poem says. A legend should be in view but not in reach."

"And that legend matters so much to you, right…" I sighed. We watched the quiet city for a bit longer. It really was a majestic place; built almost exclusively from ice, all the buildings were aligned in a complex geometric pattern and glistened in the moonlight, punctuated by the obelisk spires of the knowledge towers. Built to mathematical precision and fastidiously cleaned and maintained, it looked almost otherworldly, more like an idealized vision of a Ko-Matoran settlement than anything real, a fairy-tale town surrounded on all sides by knee-deep snow and the most hostile environment the planet had to offer. Given our reason for being here, however, it was an uncomfortable serenity from where I was standing.

"Lis?" Kopaka eventually spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"I have to do this. You know that." Though calm as he said it, he didn't seem entirely comfortable with the prospect of leaving, not in the way that he'd been before. I had to seize the chance.

"No, you don't," I corrected him, then pointed at the plaque. "You know, even though that says 'in death, a legend,' they only think you're dead. You're still around for now, and could be for a lot longer. And yet you're still planning on leaving?"

"Yes, I am leaving." He seemed to gain resolve as he said it, which wasn't encouraging.

"After this, after everything, you're still heading back up there?" I asked with some disbelief.

"Yes." His expression hardened a bit.

"Because duty?"

"Yes." Go figure. Well, that meant he had to show me his amended plan, right?

"Then I take it you've solved the problem," I concluded. "You said you've amended your plan of going back into the mountains to never be seen again. Yet you're still going back, so what's the amendment?" Faced with silence, I threw a guess out there: "Are you planning on coming back again at some point?"

"No," he answered immediately.

"So you're gonna die up there," I deduced. "For real this time. You know how messed up that is?"

"Are you surprised?" he wondered.

"Well, no… but still, I've got to do something about it," I went on. "You're about to walk up there to your doom and I have a chance to stop it. You're not going to walk up that path."

"Lis, my duty demands it," he insistently reminded me.

"No, it doesn't and you know it," I countered. "We've been here. Your duty doesn't demand you to go up there..." I gestured at the mountain peaks behind me, then pointed up at the knowledge towers; "…it would send you up there. Telescopes, well above the rest of the town and with clear skies overhead. What else do you need?"

"You already know the answer to your own question," he answered. He was right, of course; I'd known the real answer ever since that glimpse I'd caught into his nightmare during surgery.

"Yes I do, but that's not the point," I continued. "The point is that you don't seem to realize the answer. I'd almost be okay with you walking away if you did, if you could admit why you're really going back, but then if you admitted it you wouldn't be going anymore, would you?" Really, only a fool would've gone at that point… a fool or a man possessed, and Kopaka wouldn't admit to being either. For the moment, he still wasn't admitting anything; decidedly bemused, he turned back to the view. I decided back off a bit from that closed door by getting back to probing the amended plan instead. "Okay, so you're still planning on going back up there and not coming back. What's the amendment?"

"You," he answered.

"Me?" I'd figured his plan included me, but how? Then I realized something: "What do you… hang on, I'm not going up there with you. No way." I already found the temperature in Ko-Koro-Nuva profoundly uncomfortable, never mind dangerous to me in the long run; I definitely wasn't going any higher than this.

"No, you are not," he confirmed.

"Then how am I involved?" I was burning both with curiosity and a need to find a flaw in his plan to exploit, but as with everything Kopaka was working on his own timescale. He sighed, then took a few steps back from the railing and out of the direct line of sight of most of the town. I followed right behind. "C'mon, how? What are you trying to get me to do here?"

"You said that my duty would be unfulfilled if everything that I have found did not find its way back to the Matoran," he began solemnly.

"Yes I did," I beckoned him on.

"You were right," he continued. "My duty is to the Matoran, and knowledge lost forever will not benefit them."

"Which is why I don't want you to go back up there," I brought the thing to full circle. "If you die up there, everything you found will be lost for good."

"That will not happen," he asserted.

"How? You don't still believe that you're invincible, right? You know you're gonna die up there; don't dismiss the possibility just because it's… inconvenient. And why wouldn't that result in everything you found being lost?" I wanted him to explain immediately, but he waited significantly longer before picking up the string again like he was penalizing me for the interruption.

"Because, in the event that I am unable to return my findings myself," he carefully worded his plan, "I would ask that you retrieve the data."

"R-retrieve the data? Me? Up there?" I gestured at the jagged mountain peaks behind me. "No one but you can go up there, 'cause no one but you can survive up there for any length of time! That's the whole point, isn't it?"

"The peaks are rough, yes," he conceded, "but for a Toa they are not impassable if you know what you are looking for and bring a Ko-Matoran along for guidance."

"So what, you expect me to go and find your recently dead body up there?" I couldn't believe this. "Kind of tramples on the whole legend thing if i bring a Ko-Matoran along, doesn't it? Also, how are you going to tell me things when..."

"You will not find me; you will find my private sanctum," he interrupted. "Everything I have found and deciphered is stored there."

"Oh, a sanctum," I feigned relief. "So what, a cave? A hut? A private knowledge tower? Given the weather up there, it'll probably be buried under new snow by the time I got to the place unless it's a straight-up tower. No way I'll find it then."

"No, you will find it," Kopaka argued, "because you will have this." With that, he reached behind his back and produced a mask unlike any I'd ever seen before. It wasn't super elaborate or legendary looking or anything like that, but it was definitely a rare design of some kind. It was dark blue and featured a very restrained amount of gold trim.

"What is it?" I wondered.

"It is a Kanohi Elda," Kopaka identified the mask.

"The Mask of Detection…" the title still didn't have much meaning for me. "Is it one of yours?"

"No, it is in your colors," he pointed out the obvious. "I would like for you to have it." He held it out towards me.

"Where'd you get it?" I wondered as I took the mask and weighed it in my hand. "Do I have a bunch of masks hidden that I'm supposed to go and find like you guys did?"

"No. I had it made in Onu-Koro-Nuva," he explained.

"Is that what you and Nuparu…" A picture of Kopaka's day was rapidly forming in my head.

"Yes." He cut me off.

"Okay, but what does this do?" I held up the mask to get an idea of what it would look like when someone was wearing it. I wasn't immediately sold on the expression, to be honest.

"It allows the user to locate a particular object or place," he explained. "Hahli used one to find the Kanohi Ignika once, but they can be keyed to anything. This one is keyed to an object in my sanctum."

"So if I wear this I become the only person in the world besides you that has a chance of finding the place," I realized. "I could just come and visit anytime."

"No," he shot the idea down. "It is not only keyed to my sanctum; it is also keyed to me. It is currently inactive. Only if I die will it activate and lead you to where the sanctum is."

"That's… a rather specific custom job," I thought out loud. Kopaka didn't offer any response to that while I took a moment to process through just what exactly he was wanting me to do. "So, let me get this straight; just in case you… can't get all your stuff back to the Matoran yourself, you want me to go up there and do it, using this?" I held up the Elda.

"Yes," he answered without showing any sign of realizing just how bad a plan it was. I did, and boy was it disappointing, if not downright infuriating to see that this was how far he was willing to go just to try and go back into the mountains without further argument from me.

"It's… it's ludicrous." I tried to be civil in offering my thoughts, but it only lasted about a second or two. "You went through the expense of having a custom mask made and roping me into this just to reconcile your high-proclaimed duty with your need to go up there and be away from everyone? This is just… no, it's terrible. When'd you think of this contrived hack-job for a plan?"

"Contrived?" He looked at me quizzically. "It satisfies my duty." I don't know how much work he'd done to convince himself that this plan was a good one, but his momentary confusion at having it described as 'contrived' spoke volumes.

"Yes, contrived," I reaffirmed the description. "What led you to this? You realized your previous plan wasn't going to work, that it wasn't going to fulfill your duty, and this is how you solve it? By getting someone else to finish the task after you've killed yourself trying? You know, lots of other Toa might've been willing to help you without question, but not me. You're asking me to do something extremely dangerous here; it's going to take a lot more than asking nicely."

"Like what?" he remained civil in spite of how I went off on his plan.

"What I told you earlier," I reminded him. "I'm sorry, but this plan is nothing but a desperate concoction of trying to satisfy all this talk of duty that you're so fond of with the real reason why you're going back. I know what the real reason is, and if you want me to do this, if you want to be able to head up there knowing that you're actually satisfying your duty in doing so, you're going to have to come to terms with it first. Tell me you know why you're really going back up there; not duty, not being a legend, not a better view of the sky. Tell me why you're really going back. I can't just let you go otherwise, not with a promise that your legacy is safe." In retrospect, I'd expected his plan to be a lot harder to criticize. As it was, I just put it all on the table to see what he thought of it, and think of it he did. I had to wait nearly a full minute before I got any kind of response, a minute in which he hardly moved a muscle even though his mind was working at fever-pitch. It made me all the more confident that I had him in a corner: he needed this plan to work, but now I'd laid down the ultimatum so that he'd have to acknowledge the influence that ego, that shadow Kopaka had on his decision. Once he acknowledged that, he'd have to re-examine the decision from a more purely objective standpoint, and objectively, he had no solid reason to go in the first place. He'd have to admit that, and when he did he couldn't on good conscience justify going anymore. So the trap was set and I awaited his reply, but when at last he did it was with a question rather than an answer.

"What do I get from staying?" he asked.

"What do you get?" I wasn't sure of the significance of the question. "Why does that matter? It's about duty, not what you get out of it. It's about what the Matoran get out of it."

"The Matoran could get what they need either way," he elaborated. "If you accuse me of not being objective in my decision to leave, then you should provide me with some objective reasons to stay."

"You need reasons?" This was unbelievable to me. "How's not dying for a start?"

"Lis, you saw what happened when Tahu tried to be a Toa in that arena," Kopaka said disappointedly. "You have seen what happened to the other Toa Nuva. This world does not have a place for a Toa like me; why would I stay longer?"

"But it does have a place for you," I gestured up at the knowledge towers again. "And you'd be around to help the people who need you."

"Who, Lis?" he asked grimly. "Who here needs me?"

"Tahu! Gali! The Ko-Matoran!" I listed off.

"My duty is to the Matoran, not to fallen mockeries of Toa," he denounced the idea, sounding oddly like an older version of himself in the process, then gestured towards the railing and Ko-Koro-Nuva beyond, "…and can you honestly say that these Matoran are currently in need of my presence?"

"Fallen mockeries of Toa!?" Now things were getting heated on my part; he couldn't denounce them like that after having made a genuine apology to one and convincing me that the other was still trying to be as much of a Toa as he could be. "You're one to talk! You said you lost the title too! I was there when it happened!" The reference to Pohatu's death hit him hard; his eyes widened and his expression fell, but even after he quickly reasserted himself I could still tell it hurt him. An awkward silence followed, and in spite of my anger I immediately regretted what I said. "I-I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

"No, I do not have the title anymore and for good reason," Kopaka conceded. "I do not doubt that many Matoran would agree if they knew the truth."

"They got a legend for Pohatu out of it, though," I attempted to mitigate the damage. "I'm sure most would understand why you did it if they knew."

"Understanding does not change the fact that they do not need me," Kopaka brought things back on topic, "and they are better off not knowing. Legends, Lis, remember? Duty alone does not provide me with a reason to stay."

"Not immediately, but that doesn't mean you can't offer the Matoran anything." I gestured at the plaque on the statue. "Look, it says 'in peace, a scholar.' There's a role for you right there. Make it your duty, like Gali with the healing."

"Being a scholar is exactly what I am doing up there." He gestured up at the mountains.

"Not just a scholar, not up there," I continued the argument without realizing that it was losing steam. "Up there you have to be something else just so survive. You could fulfill the role of scholar much better over here, and again, you could live."

"Living among people who have to believe me dead?" Now that he said it, that did sound somewhat preposterous. He went on, however: "Lis, we are free to choose to pursue our duty as we see fit, and I see fit to go back to my sanctum. Yes, I will eventually die up there, but no one needs me here. Not the former Toa Nuva, not the Matoran, no one."

"So now you admit it," I picked out one part of his answer: "you are going to die up there." It was a sobering admission on his part; up until now he'd avoided explicitly stating that his death up there was inevitable, but now the possibility of that delusion fueling into his decision making was slipping. The matter of his death was no longer an "if;" it was a "when."

"Yes," he sighed after giving the confirmation. "I will not be back again. I will die up there."

"And what about me?" I asked. "I'm just supposed to watch that happen? I've seen two Toa Nuva die, a third on the brink and a fourth come damned close twice. I can't just watch you go too. Okay, you don't want to stay for them, and maybe the Matoran don't need you to stay either, but I… I do." That also struck a chord, at least to the point where Kopaka spent some time thinking about how to proceed without him actually being in a tight spot to think his way out of. It was true, though; ever since the idea of him staying had taken root in my mind as a possibility, it had become rather much of an obsession. Watching him go would be like watching him die, and after Onua and Pohatu I didn't want to experience that again. The idea alone gave me shivers.

"Lis?" Kopaka interrupted my thinking in a voice that had softened considerably. "You do not need me."

"You don't know that," I pointed out. "You can read people's intentions, their reasoning all day long, but you don't understand what they feel or what your actions do to them. You don't even consider it."

"No, you do not need me because I have nothing left to show you," he corrected, and in disregarding my point about his lack of empathy lent more evidence to said point.

"Nothing left to show me?" I questioned. "Is that your point in all this; to show me… what?"

"…what it means to be a Toa in this world," he finished.

"What about this world?" Yeah, I'd spent quite some time thinking on what it meant to be a Toa now, but his view on what exactly he'd done to help me along in that was a point of interest.

"Toa who understand this world, who fit in it," he continued. "You accuse me of being unable to understand how people feel, and you are right. As a Toa, I did not need to; I needed to know how to fight the monsters the Matoran faced at the time. Rahi, Bohrok, Rahkshi, the Makuta, those are the monsters I fought and would fight again if they threatened the Matoran. But no, the only monsters in this world are within the Toa and Matoran themselves, inner demons that I cannot fight."

"That doesn't mean you can't stay here," I repeated, "or that I don't need you to."

"No, it does not," he acknowledged, "but it does mean that if I stayed I would be staying without purpose like Gali, like Pohatu after his injury, and like Lewa and Onua when they found themselves no longer able to fulfill their duty. You know what happened to them, and you do not want to see it happen to me."

"But they're not you," I countered. "We know how they met their fate, and you can avoid that."

"Then something else would take me," he concluded, then paused for a moment before elaborating: "Lis, my brothers were not taken by crystals or volcanoes or alcohol. They were taken by those inner demons; what we saw were just their methods."

"Then what inner demon would take you?" I asked, though I already knew the answer and expected him to find a way to dodge the question again… except this time, he didn't.

"You already know," he answered. "You saw it that night."

"Shadow Kopaka?" Hang on, was this at last the admission that I'd been looking for?

"Yes," the Toa of Ice admitted, though clearly with difficulty.

"Well, if you call him an inner demon than he's a separate entity, right? Where'd he come from?" I hoped that perhaps that would offer a clue as to how to get rid of him.

"It did not come from anywhere," Kopaka explained. "It was a part of me before, but the Makuta merely recognized it separately. When we met him, he identified our inner demons and gave them form."

"But then you can get over it," I tried to encourage him. "You know he… it's there, you know what it's telling you, so you can work around it, truly look at things objectively. Think about it: what would really be the best way to fulfill your duty?"

"In purely objective terms, the best option would be to stay," he recognized, "but it is not as simple as that."

"Why not? Even if you still want everyone to believe you're dead, I know there's a way that we can make it work," I pointed out. "And you could still live quite a ways away from people. I'll just make sure you'll have what you need and…"

"No." He dismissed the idea immediately. "It would not do, and you know why."

"Do you?" I really wanted to make sure he did; if there was anything left to explain, there was leverage to get him to stay. However, rather than giving a short, straight-up answer, he sighed and prepared for a longer one.

"When I first woke up," he began, "I did not know what a Toa was. None of us did. All we knew was that we landed on an island and that these little people called 'Matoran' kept calling us heroes. They said that we were their deliverance, that we were going to save them from all the evils in the world. However, we did not know what it took to be a hero, so each of us tried to imagine one based on what little we knew of ourselves. From that point, that was who we were or tried to be. It still is."

"And your hero doesn't need help from anyone," I remembered. "Nuparu told me something similar."

"Lis, we all have a certain image of ourselves that we work towards and aspire to be," Kopaka continued. "Mine is up there, completely cut off from the rest of the world, and if I give up on it I give up on the last part of me that I have left. I have already lost my title of Toa to ensure Pohatu's memory and my duty is to a people whose need for me to fulfill it vanished long ago. My former allies have fallen or are falling to parts of themselves that I could do little about even if I could overcome my own. Those mountains are what I have left, Lis, and if I do not go there then I will have nothing. At that point, I might as well be dead."

"Your inner demon is the very image of a Toa that you created for yourself, just as it was for the others," I realized. "Then let me help. As you said, I'm at least somewhat familiar with this world. Let's find you a place in it together, something that is Kopaka without the mountains."

"Something that will hide the fact that I am alive from the rest of the world?" he didn't sound hopeful. "You have already committed to helping Gali get back on her feet, and unlike me she still might have a place here. You have a duty to the Matoran too, Lis, and you will be fulfilling it far more effectively by helping a living Toa rise to become a legend to be proud of for one tribe than by bringing back a dead one for another that already has a legend to live after."

"Still, there's got to be something," I pushed on. "Any better option than… than this." I gestured up with the Elda, but increasingly the inevitability of what was about to happen was dawning on me, much to my despair over the situation and anger at myself for being unable to do anything to stop it. Granted, at least it was clear that Kopaka felt no better about it.

"If there was, I would have chosen to pursue it at this point," he gloomily observed. His voice, his expression, everything about him telegraphed a resignation to fate, a Toa broken of all illusions about his path yet fatalistically devoted to it. Opposite him, I found my toolbox empty; everything I'd thought of, every reason for him to stay was shot down one way or the other. Staying alive longer? He had no reason to and no other place to go. Helping the remaining Toa Nuva? Wasn't his duty, and no doubt he still didn't relish their company. Finding something else with my help? A waste of my time, according to him… to my frustration I had nothing left. I couldn't even help him after he did go back other than by making sure that the legacy of the last however many years of his life didn't get buried forever in those blasted mountains. I felt as I had done back in Pohatu's place, back when I'd pleaded with Kopaka not to kill the Toa of Stone only to realize that there was nothing that could be done and nothing left to save. Was that truly the case here? Was there nothing that could satisfy Kopaka without resigning him to this fate?

"Lis," he brought me out of my thoughts again.

"What?" Caught between anger and despair, I somehow evened out at numb.

"I will be going back up there regardless of whether you take the mask or not," he began, "but there is one last thing I need to say before I leave."

"What's that?" I neither knew what to expect nor cared for it until Kopaka placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you," he said in about as warm a tone as he could manage. "Thank you for accompanying me and for showing me what you did."

"What? What did I do?" I was drawing blank on what exactly he was thanking me for.

"You never knew me before a week ago, yet you were immediately willing to help even though I did not ask for it," he explained. "You assisted in operations when you were under no obligation do so, and even after we parted in anger you came back and showed me something that I needed to see: Onua's death. It is because of that and because of you that Pohatu will get the legend that he deserves and that Gali is in a position to become the only one of the Toa Nuva to find a place for themselves in this world. Because of you I have left the world, or at least several of my former allies, in a better place rather than in a worse one."

"R-Really?" I wasn't so sure myself just yet.

"For a long time, I only had one person who I could call a friend," Kopaka went on. "You have seen the moment when I first met him, you have seen saw the moment when I thought that I had lost him, you have seen the moment when we thought we said goodbye for good, and you have seen the moment of his actual death. He was my friend not because he never questioned me; he was my friend because he understood. He was patient, willing to listen and ready to help, but also ready to hold me and everyone else accountable. That is how he was able to get along with everyone, to forge bridges while the rest of us continuously burned them. You have that same quality, Lis, and after what happened in the arena today this world needs it more than ever; this world does not need Toa like me, who fought great monsters that are little but bad memories now. It needs Toa like you, who are able to use their power to stop individuals' inner demons from destroying themselves; they can tear paradise apart just as they do to any Toa team in it. In this regard, I believe the world could not be in more capable hands than yours; you may have not seen many years or many battles, but I have hardly met another person more deserving of the title of Toa."

"Thank you, that's… that's a lot to take in," I stammered. "I'm like Pohatu to you? Like a friend?"

"I would be honored to call you that," he replied. "Lis, there is no one else who I would have entrusted this mask to. You are right in that it is a poor solution, but regrettably it is the best that I have left. There is nothing else that you can do for me."

"Nothing I could do for the Kopaka I met last week, maybe, but you've changed." I made one last desperate attempt. "You're not the Toa you were back then, no longer blinded by yourself to your own fate. You've changed already; can't you take it just one step further and overcome that inner demon altogether, or at least try?"

"Lis, people do not change that much," he solemnly replied, "not when there is so little left of them. Even if I stayed, I could never ignore that voice in my head, telling me that I had nothing left to live for. Up there, it is silent; up there I have peace, and I will take that at any toll that it will take on me. I am sorry, but I have nowhere else to go." For a couple of seconds, I just stood there, one side of me trying its hardest to convince me to keep arguing him out of this while the other was ready to give in, trying to convince me that in some ways, the decision to stay or leave was never his to make, nor mine. Nothing could've kept him here. Still numb and caught in between, I eventually came to the same decision I had arrived at two nights before.

"Then… then I'll take it," I just about managed to say. "I'll use the Elda, if only to make sure that at least your legacy is safe."

"Thank you," he said with audible relief still tinged by sadness. I decided to try on the new mask to cement the decision. Though trembling hands made it difficult, I took off my old mask, stored it away, and put the new one in its place. Even though it fit perfectly, its grip still felt tenuous; I'd have to get used to the tax of maintaining multiple masks at once, and for that matter to the field of view provided by the new one. Concentrating, I managed to summon back the Volitak.

"You know I'm going to miss this one," I pointed out.

"Sneaking never did become you," Kopaka replied.

"No, I guess it didn't... never fooled you anyways," I smiled in spite of myself and the situation, but it didn't last long. "You know, there's some things I should tell you as well," I remembered. "It's just… if I could do anything, anything else to keep you from having to go, I'd do it. I.. I hate that this is where we're at, you know? With everything we've seen over this past week, I really hoped I'd found something…" I was choking up; my eyes were welling up with tears. Kopaka took over.

"Lis, it was always going to end like this," he replied almost apologetically. "Nothing was going to change that, awful as it is."

"A-awful as it is…" I repeated softly. I was still struggling to come to terms, but those were the facts; nothing I could do was going to change the choices that Kopaka faced, and he was under no illusions about any of them anymore. This was the end, and it was the end I'd been trying so hard to avoid to no avail. Small wonder I couldn't keep from crying.

"I should get going," Kopaka decided.

"No, one last thing." I recollected myself enough to speak up again."Look, when I followed you onto that train, I didn't know where I was going. I'd pretty much broken up with my team a while before, didn't know what I was supposed to do as a Toa or how… how I should use my powers and all that. You were a curiosity at first, and there were some times when I really, you know, questioned what in the world I was doing, but… I'm glad I stuck with you and that you kept me around. I know I was hard to deal with sometimes, but you've shown me so much that… I don't feel so lost anymore, you know? So thanks, thanks for not giving up on me, for showing me everything that you did. It was hard and sometimes it hurt… but it's helped me a lot." At this point, I would've thought Kopaka didn't have any surprises left in store, but here in his reply he did; he didn't say anything, didn't move, just stood there and for the first time that I could remember, he smiled. It wasn't a very happy smile, but it was a satisfied one, a proud one even. Proud of me, proud of himself, probably both, but it was a strong gesture of appreciation all the same. Overwhelmed, I surprised myself by stepping forward and embracing him. No more words, just a tight embrace that I did not want to let go, 'cause I knew that when I let go he'd pretty much be gone. For a few seconds he just awkwardly stood there, surprised and without an immediate response ready, but then he returned the gesture as warmly as he could manage. There was something comforting, something reassuring in that, something that made his imminent departure just a little less heart wrenching. "I'll miss you," I managed between tears.

"I… will miss you too," he admitted it hesitantly, but I felt as sense of satisfaction about it all the same. Eventually we released; I took a step or two back, still struggling to keep control, still trying to fully come to terms with what was about to happen. Kopaka also took a moment to reassert himself, but I could tell that he'd shed some tears too. That helped in a way: it proved further that he really would've gone for any other option if he'd felt that he had one, and while this one still sucked it also made it considerably harder for me to question what else I could've done. Kopaka straightened out his cloak slightly in preparation for departure.

"Farewell, Lis." With that, he turned and started around the statue's base.

"Farewell, Toa Kopaka," I managed without choking up. He paused for a moment and glanced back at me. Though he'd reverted to his neutral facial expression after the embrace, I now noticed an ever so slight smile again. It was a hesitant one, but its meaning was clear to me; he wasn't entirely comfortable with being called Toa anymore, but appreciated it all the same. Honestly, in spite of what I'd said earlier, as far as I was concerned he still deserved the title regardless of what he'd done. He resumed his pace and headed towards the area where the rocky outcrop melded into the steep mountainside and where a narrow, barely visible trail led away from the town and towards the distant peaks. As I watched him slowly ascend, it looked to me like a vision from days gone by; the Toa Nuva of Ice returning to his post high in the mountains when his presence was no longer needed, tragic as it was. I had first seen him coming down that trail only eight days before, but it felt like so much longer and now I was likely the last person to ever see him alive. As darkness and distance gradually took him out of view, I thought back to everything we'd shared; the memories shared, the surgery, Pohatu's death… Truly, I had much for meditation.


End file.
